NICE!

Greetings to all of you from the sunny South. It appears(according to my van) that it is a balmy 79 out. So weird to see people getting their lawn all mowed up nice for the Holidays. I may not be back here for a few days so MERRY CHRISTMAS to all of you!

Carmel corn and a new love!

I got my carmel corn done the other night~~hint #1 do not try this in 9x13 pans! It was a bear to stir. I ended up getting it done alright but to start off I was surprized that I could not think of how to pop corn on the stove! I finally called a friend and she told me. When it was all said and done the pans were sticky and I was blue. I told Daniel that I would never make it again unless I had disposable pans, I left the pans to soak and went to bed and in the night a miracle happened...no, he did not clean the pans but that wonderful new dish soap with active oxides did wonders. Now, I am not sure what an active oxide is but I fell in love with them. I think they are little people that eat the cruddy stuff off of pans while you sleep! I also got my Christmas tree up and Daniel said it was very nice. Now anyone that knows my finicky hubby well knows that is a compliment! I was bummed that our topper quit after 20 years (Daniel had it premarriage) I suppose it was to be expected since I would most likely not function well if someone stuck me inside of a box in a box and put me on a shelf in a Florida garage for a year either but...............

My dear hubby!

I was thinking about my husband and how sweet he is and it crossed my mind that really when he is so sweet and treats me so kind he actually is just doing what is commanded in the scripture: to love me as Christ loved the church. Anyway, the other week I asked him if I could ask a question and get an honest answer and of course he said yes so I asked my ? It was would you rather have a beautiful wife or one that can cook and he said it was a no brainer. I think he said, "not funny" when I told him it was illegal to have 2 wives at once. I do know someone who is supposed to look perfect when her husband comes home and I just can't accomplish that when I cook! My hair no longer stays in place but as long as he doesn't mind I will just keep on cooking! To all of you that ARE beautiful and can cook......I salute you!

finally ready to start!

I am finally going to put up our Christmas tree tonight. I know that is awful and I have never in my life waited this long but the plain old blues as well as some physical problems have kind of kept me out of the spirit. I told my mom today that she would be proud to know that I was headed to the store to get snacks and things so we could do our tree tonight and she said she was so now I really gotta do it.............that along with the fact that Christmas is sooooo close! She told me to tell Daniel that he has to make fudge for us so I think I will do that and with caramel corn and yummy dip and the best drink of all~~PEPSI we will eat, drink and put up the Merry Christmas tree! By the way, rereading this sounds like I have to have food to put up the tree....that is not a mistake! When we are happy we celebrate; AKA, eat. When we are sad...we eat....comfort food! When life is just normal we eat too!

Christmas smells yummy!

It's beginning to smell alot like Christmas 'round the Gates' front door............on Sunday we saw a truck coming down the drive and were trying to figure out who it was and lo and behold it was the guy that had come last winter to pick up pine cones. Hmmm....it isn't pine cone season yet so what could he want??? He brought us a huge, beautiful wreath that him and his wife made. The pine cones came from here but the pine greenry came from Wis. It was a Thank you for the pine cones he said. I hung it by the door and it smells yummy especially after I mist it. Another Christmas thing I kind of miss is my little girl singing, "Happy Birthday Jesus, I'm so glad it's Christmas!" Seems like she sang that for several years! Oh, how they all grow. I ran across a pic of here and the 3 boys when they were in their play part garb one year. The boys were shepherds I think and Abigail was an angel~~complete with her halo and crown braid! By the way, my wreath is more beautiful than this one....too bad I either lost or misplaced the USB!

I must be ill!!!

I was talking to my mom the other day and told her that I was not in the mood for Christmas and she told me I need to do the Christmas stuff for the kids....the decorating and baking. Baking? I gotta bake? NOOOOOOO! I don't wanna bake and anyone that knows me much at all knows that I love to bake and cook. While sitting here messing around on the computer it crossed my mind that I don't want to cook! Now I know I must be completely out of it! Well, I guess I will go home and cook no matter what. BOO! HOO! I want sugar cookies but don't want to bake them!

A Tisket A Tasket...

A Longaberger basket! I was wondering if you gals that use Ebay are having any better luck then you were there for awhile because I realized during my cleaning that I don't use these baskets and would like to get rid of them. Let me know what you think. Would I maybe have just as much luck in the paper?

leapin' lizards

Yesterday I decided to clean my room from stem to stern and I

picked up some stuff and saw a dust bunny....and it moved! HUH?

The dust bunnies are alive?? Yikes! It was a little lizard and when

I screeched it ran under Daniel's dresser so needless to say the room is clean except for under his dresser! To top it off I accidently flushed a cleaning rag down the toilet! Fortunately, it

did not stop up the works. I know there are those that think Daniel treats me

like a queen but take my word for it I can get under his skin! I think that would of gotten

there! Anyway, all is well that ends well!

an update

I watched Johnathan for a little while this afternoon while his mommy took Abigail to see her friends horses and he is doing wonderfully since they got his bowel problems straightened out. He is getting fat, little pinchable thighs! He is soooo cute. usually Ab likes to be home when he is there~~cures her baby sibling desire but she really wants to ride those horses! She did not get to this time but maybe someday..... For those of you just dying of curiosity my breadsticks turned out wonderfully. You can find them at Taste of Home! Their website is awesome!

FOOD!

I am only here for a few minutes. I stopped in on my way to get that scrappers tote. I sure do hope they are open today. Anyway, it is only 10:20 a.m. and I am already anxious for supper but that is because I am having; lasagna, homemade breadsticks, gr. beans, cole slaw and chocolate fudge cake with triple chocolate fudge icing! I do love chocolate! Well. since I am being so honest here I love food in general! Since life is short I think I will have dessert first!

YEE HAW! I am a winner!!!

When my MIL was here she bought me a gift certificate for the local scrap booking store and told me they were having an open house so I went to it last night and of course I spent the cert. and entered a drawing and they called this morning and I won a good sized scrappers tote! I was shocked! I called to tell her that I had gone and spent the thing and that I had won! She was excited for me. I asked her why she had even bought that for me and she said it was because I seemed down while she was here......shame on me! I usually cover better than that. I told her I would be better next time she was here!

Old fashion eviction.....

Last night at church a little boy came up to Abigail and said he had thought about testifying but changed his mind and she asked him if God had told him not to testify and he said, No,(big sigh) that he was just under old fashion eviction." I thought that was sooooo cute. Bless his little heart!

needin' an opinion...

We are beginning to give thought to Jonathon's senior pictures. He is going to have black and yellow for his colors and asked if I thought he would look like a flake in black pants, a yellow shirt and white suit coat for one of the pics? Those of you who have seen him in recent years know that he no longer has that white blond hair but what do you all think? As his mother of course I do not think my handsome son would look like a flake but hey....I am partial! Feel free to let me know!

A Jiggly Jello lesson.....

Ever had one of those times when food became a spiritual lesson? I cook alot so I have that happen alot! The other night I made an orange cheesecake and I got in a hurry and did not let the gelatin mix sit long enough so the next day when I took it to the church get-together and took the ring off it started to head "south" after a little while and as I looked at my beautiful cheesecake becoming not so lovely it crossed my mind..........how many times have I allowed my attitude to head south because something did not set right with me??? OUCH! Way too many times I suppose. I asked the Lord to help me with that and sure enough I was tested when someone started the whole "he said, she said" thing and they said they were sorry for ruining my day and I told them I was not going to allow them or what was said to ruin my day. This is something I do work at because it seems like moms set the tone for the home and I want my kids to love home not count the days til they can be gone! Anyway, that is enough of that for this time. God bless you all!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you from our house to yours! Have lots of fun with your family and HAPPY EATING! Don't forget to be thankful! God bless you all!

Known only to him....

Sometimes I wonder why God works the way he does and I was thinking about something the other day and just could not see how good could come from it and it popped in my head.....known only to him are the great hidden secrets.....I cry everytime I hear my mom sing that~no matter what my mood is. I suppose there are times when we can only trust God and be thankful that he is watching out for us and that he knows what is best. I am sure there are times I would make a mess of things on my own. Anyway, thank you Lord for your watchful care and your blessings on me!

A paw up......

Seth (my early riser) came in my room the other morning and the first words out of his mouth were....mom, cats aren't as stupid as people think. HUH? Then he proceeded to tell me that one of the babies was trying to jump up on the porch but kept slipping off and one of its 1/2 siblings (from the Spring) went over and put its paw on the baby's back and held it til it got a grip. My first thought was Lord, help me to be more catlike and always be ready with an uplift for those who need it. We just never know when someone might need a hand and maybe they feel like they are losing their grip! I truly do want to be a help to those I meet!

I am back!

WOW! What a week! For the most part it was a good week. Since Daniel was working we did not run as much as usual! We did go to Sanibel Island on Thursday and that was fun. The Gulf was beautiful and Abigail got lots of shells for when she does her beach room! I was sad to see them go because we never know when someone will be able to come again. Seth really enjoyied having his grandpa here because they are both Mr. FIx-its! I guess we don't have enough junk in our garage. I thought we had too much but according to Roy we don't have any! HMMM! Just what is that stuff? They fixed my mail box and the trash can. YES!

One more day!

I decided to stop in here for a minute since I will be so busy next week. I am excited to see the in-laws. At first I was going crazy........gotta get food, clean and all that then I thought good grief I have 1 1/2 weeks! Bother! I am crazy at times! Anyway, all you bloggers do lots of activities so I can read about them when I return!

Thank You Lord for your blessings on me!

I love Thanksgiving the most out of all the Holidays! I decided to post some things I am thankful for:

1. Salvation~without that nothing else would matter.

2. A wonderful husband~he puts up with ALOT!

3. Good kids that do not struggle academically which makes my life easier and they are also

kids....most of the time!

4. A wonderful mom that made me obey and taught me so much about faith and dependence on

the Heavenly Father.

5. America the land of the free!

6. The joy of cooking...that way we don't starve or eat canned stuff all the time.

7. The beauty of Holiness!

8. The beauty of nature.

9. In-laws I get along with well!

10. LIFE!

These are in random order. (except the first one!)

Company and stories!

Hip-hip hooray! My inls are coming! They are leaving at 11:59 tonight and will get here at 3:05 on Saturday! They are coming on the train! I can hardly believe it. Also, I got the Cds from my mom today and they are nice. She sent me her singing CD also. Everything turned out great!

Happy Birthday!

I won't be here on Sunday so I want to wish a very Happy Birthday to 2 of my favorite guys! My dear hubby will be 45! He is the worlds best! Seth will be 14! WoW! time sure flies. I remember when I was in labor with Seth and Daniel so sweetly leaned down and asked if I could just hold on for 2 more hours so Seth would share his Birthday and I just as sweetly(?) glared at him! Daniel always brags that he was so special they canceled the mail and school for him. Anyway, Happy Birthday guys! Love you both! Happy Veterans day to all our vets! God bless the birthday boys and the vets!!

2 kids and a dog

This is Seth and Abigail in the Smokies and this is our sailor dog on vacation. I am well aware that we went on vacation in August but I just now got the pics back! I am slow!

Kids...

This is Jacob with my cousin Crystal's little boy. His name is Caleb and he is 4. He is so cute and polite! He had a great time with Jacob~kids always seem to like Jake. He told his mom he wanted to go back outside and play with that little kid and since Jacob is 6.1 I told his mom that I was not interested in meeting any of the big kids he knows.

OOPS!

I made a mistake on the one post..........she had the class write a letter to the Mother pumpkin! (not her class) I am a nut case I guess.

STORIES!!!!!!!!

I answered the phone the other night and it was my mom...the conversation went something like this.................I didn't hear the mailman knock and when I opened my door there was a box and I opened it up and my things had come and they are so nice, they turned out so well, I am so pleased! I said, "huh" and she started to tell me again so I said, "no, I heard you I just don't what things you are talking about." It was her Cds that she had done~~~off of her story tapes! Now, some of you will be floating around the Holiness movement again! She mentioned Karen, Denise, Nicole and Chasity as well as a few others. With the wonderful world of computers you are now in front of a river instead of the big tree. I am so excited for her to get these. She has had a few requests for them. If any of you are interested in them send an email to my gmail with your phone # and I will get it to her so she can call you.

crazy times???

Ok, I am not sure but I think I have heard it all...a teacher had her 2nd grade class write letters of apology to her class for carving her "children"??? Then there have been kids arrested lately for hitting teachers and stuff. My mom taught for several years and never faced that! Of course even if they thought about it they would decide against it! Then there is the 12 year old boy who was arrested 2-3 times for burglarizing places---in the nude! Thank you Lord for my boys and daughter who are all angels compared to some kids! I know, I know, compared to some they are not but.....................compared to some others!

I wanna be normal..........

I am beginning to wonder if I will ever be back to the old me! I feel so weird because I was never a Bawler and now I bawl at the weirdest times. I started to cry last night when I was playing a computer game. I just think about my dad and all those things at the weirdest times! One day I looked at our friends baby and it crossed my mind that one time he was someones baby boy and I started to cry. I hope this is not the new me~~I suppose it could be since I am 40 now but I am just not used to this crying thing! My poor hubby wants me to tell him what is wrong but I feel like a broken record and my kids just kind of disappear because they are used to my wit and laughter not tears. Anyway, if you think about it pray for me because I need it!

Back Again

I am finally back! I have been soooo busy. I am not sure how I ever had a job! Daniel has also been home alot working on the computer to design kitchens and such! I have been cooking and cleaning and all things wonderful! Oh, by the way...if any of you see my mom don't even bother to tell her to look for a husband since my dad is gone. Even though they were not together for 22 years they did not hate each other and she is not looking for a husband. I know there are some women who can't seem to live without one but my mom is not one of them. There were idiots making wise cracks the day she found out dad had died. Personally I find that offensive! Anyway, there is my airing of gripes for the day! In spite of everything she cared about his soul and did not take his death lightly.

AUGH!

Ok, this has been one of those days! I made bread on Monday but decided I did not like it very much so I decided to make some today that I know I like. While I was cleaning up my mess Abigail said she would fix us some soup. How much of a mess can that make??? When you hear, HUH? and OOPS you know you have a problem so I turned around and I did not say "Hallelujah" I said, "for the love of Pete how did you accomplish that." She had soup on the counter, in her hair, on the knife stand as well as under the cabinet and on the floor. Oh, and down the side of the stove! Well, I was going to show her how to do things so I grabbed a spoon and started to stir and yep, perfect mom (not) made a mess too. I plopped soup on the burner! Grrr...we had a good laugh and cleaned it up but still.......... By the way, the bread is finally done and tastes wonderful! I guess I better not make her out to be a slob or klutz. The top would not pop so she tried to push it down and up..........do not do this!

Bloggin' dreams

With all the uproar in my life I have had some strange dreams lately and in one of them most everybodies blog that I look at was there.........it was the Sebring Christian Bloggers convention! Yeh, nutty! We were all trying to decide where to go eat and I was adament that I wanted to go to our new White Castle (we do not have one) and noone else wanted to so I stomped my foot and said, "if you weren't going to do what I wanted why did you come to MY town?" Bless Angie Davis' little heart she looked at Karen and said, "I thought you said she was nice." Karen and Sara told her that I used to be but they did not know what had happened to me! I sure was glad to find that only a dream! I would never do that! I hope!

Thank You Lord

I have so much to be thankful for: Our little friend Johnathan seems to be on the mend. The Drs. had told his parents that he would start to potty on his own and he appears to be doing that! The Lord is also helping my mom and myself through this time. I expect a box any day from her with some of his things and some pictures of his service and as of this moment I think I can handle it, if not, I will wait til my hubby gets home and let him look first. I guess my dad saved alot of stuff. I have been with Daniel 19 years and my dad had a picture of me with an ex-boyfriend! I do thank you all for your prayers and I pray for all of you. I know that having little ones can be difficult and so can having teens so we all need prayers!

In the mood for food!

I am really in the mood to cook! I need some help though...Sara, did you by any chance ever write down the stroganoff recipe that used to come on the bag of noodles? (that I fixed many moons ago) and also, does anyone know whether or not you can freeze whipping cream? I am NOT talking about cool whip. I am a little smarter than that! It is on sale right now and I want to get extra if it can be frozen. I am also planning to start my Thanksgiving meal shopping so if you have any great ideas for that I would love it. Thanksgiving is my absolute favorite time of the year and it doesn't bother me a bit if it is just us and I do it all! I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT! Also, are smaller turkeys better or does it matter?

A special Thanks...

A special thank you to all of you that prayed for my mom yesterday. She said she held up pretty well and that my dad looked pretty good considering the circumstances. She got a death certificate and the official cause of death was: malnutrition and dehydration. That was a painful thing to accept especially since there are so many unanswered questions that will never be answered. I do thank God for his love and care in these times. We could never have a better friend or listening ear. I felt so alone during this time (as far as earthly friends) but I had to keep in mind that people just don't know what to say at times like this. Anyway, thank you all for praying and God bless you all!

I have seen Holiness...

I never doubted that what my mom professed to have was real but after the past week I would never ever doubt it. She has had to make the arrangements and everything for a man she has not lived with for 22 years but God is helping her. God did answer one prayer and that is she does not have to go in the house to go through his things~someone has bagged them up for her. I thought I was doing ok but for some reason I had total meltdown yesterday. Of course, that could not happen at home it had to happen at church. My mom was telling me that other friends they had years ago are really torn up and that got me to wondering "WHY" and I think perhaps it is for many reasons. I know my reasons are many. The wasted years and the thought of how things could of been so different as well as the thought that maybe you could of done something. I have already told Daniel that if he ever sees me shutting out everyone I hope someone will intervene and save me from myself! I was surprized when my mom told me that if she had of known he was sick she would of taken him in and taken care of him. Daniel said that I should not be surprized because that is what the love of God will do for a person. Just pray for my mom tomorrow especially around 2:00. That is when the service is. I am just glad she will have some friends there. One little bit of advice...never wait to say what you need to say because you never know what tomorrow will bring!

YUMMY!

This is a picture of the absolutely yummy dessert I made yesterday! I got it from Taste of Home. Sometimes I have wondered if my hubby ever gets tired of seeing me looking through those cookbooks but I after the way he went after this I kind of figure he thinks it is worth it!

my dad

Well, I am in kind of limbo here so if you will continue to pray for me I sure would appreciate it! I am so amazed at my mom (although I guess I shouldn't be) she is more or less making the arrangements and alot of people would just say no way since they have been apart so long. She meets with someone next week after the service to go through his things and that will not be easy. I will not be going to the service because last minute like that would just be too costly. Anyway, pray for my mom because this is hard on her in spite of the circumstances.

on the lighter side............

I stopped this morning to get Seth a liquid breakfast before I took him to work with his dad and saw the funniest sight......a guy had tried cutting his jeans off to make shorts and one leg was about 3 inches shorter than the other and I guess to compensate(haha) he had pulled that sock clear up to his knee and the other was pushed down around his boot top. I think he must be single!

shock.............

I guess right now I am in shock. I found out that my dad died on the 3rd I believe. I knew this day would come and to be honest I am surprized it has crushed me as bad as it has (before you criticize me too much you would have to understand the dynamics.) I was just devastated and my mom is broken also. I guess because in spite of everything we do remember some good times and some good things. I suppose I was one of those that felt like I would never fall into sin like that but now I am older and realize that "except for the grace of God there go I." I wonder if he ever felt like the Psalmist David in Psalm 142:4 I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me: refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul.
Of course now there are so many what ifs and they are just things that you have to leave in the hands of the almighty God. I guess I am done for now with my spilling of guts. Thank you for taking time to read this and to those who pray for us thank you for that. I know some will find it strange that it would even bother my mom since they were seperated for 22 years but they were still friends of sorts so she needs prayer too. Then you always have the guilt of not knowing if you prayed enough or cared enough.

In memory...

I wanted to post this on the 22nd of September which was the 3rd anniversary of Bob Campbell's home going but I was unable to work on the computer. I miss this man alot and alot of the time. My whole family thought he was wonderful. He enjoyed being a Christian. He was also a man of prayer. The other day when I was calling friends to pray for our friend Johnathon Seth said he sure wished Bob was still here and I asked him why...his response was "you wouldn't have to call anyone else, you could call him, he would pray and there would be results." WOW! What a testimony! What a man!

BUSY!

Yesterday was a wonderful day! I started out helping my friend with her kids. I went home and baked 3 loaves of bread, 2 pumpkin pies and one apple. For supper we had...pork loin, mashed potatoes, gr. beans, corn and deviled eggs. Oh, by the way can ya'll pray that my metabolism speeds up? Just kidding it might have to do with my love of cooking!

Johnathon

The new news on the baby is that his condition is something he should grow out of in time. In the meantime they will have to stimulate him to make him go.

The memories I scrapped!

These inages are not real clear when enlarged but they do show what I did in regards to what I mentioned awhile back about doing the page.

Christopher and Abigail

This is Abigail with her long time friend, Christopher Dill. I took this while we were up North so I can scrap it along with one I have from when they were 2! Contrary to what it may look like Abigail is not treated better than the boys~they just hate to have their picture taken and she still doesn't mind it! I hope Abigail and Christopher are forever friends!

Daniel and my mom

This is Daniel with the best Mother-in-law he has ever had!

Thank you

A special thanks to Sara for posting the pics of our 2 girls. I am not handy at those things plus I do not have the stuff to do it so she is sweet enough to do it for me. If you ever see something and can't believe it is really me maybe it isn't! Just kidding! Thank you again, Sara!

2 little indians and one paleface

These little cuties belong to my cousin Jason and his wife Linda. Hannah was 3 in February and Melea will be 1 the first part of October. Melea looks thin here but since they put her on Zantac my mom says she is plumping up. This picture was taken while Seth was at my mom's. They all look pretty thrilled don't you think!? I babysat my friends baby yesterday so she could rest and he did not cry except for his bottle. Other than that he slept nearly 4 hours and since I got my work done early I held him almost the whole time. Bad, I know but hey, I am not his mom! He is just so cute and warm and cuddly! He goes back to the specialist next Tuesday so please continue to pray for him.

Womb Mates

Fellow blogger, Sara Derscheid, and I were expecting at the same time and due about 6 or 8 weeks apart. She for her first and I for my 4th and last. Here they are on Easter 1996. Abigail is on the left; Britnee on the right. Both girls turned 12 this year.

Abigail on her 12th birthday with her dessert of choice! Cheesecake!

Britnee's 12th birthday, celebrated in Michigan at Poppie Fritz's

Makes you wonder, "where DID the babies go?"

7 things about me

I am gonna try this:
1: Even though I am adopted I have been told I favor my mom and my cousin Kathy.
2: Daniel went to my 12th grade banquet with me~as friends and we did not date for several years after that.
3: I love to cook and bake.
4: I have not always been umm...chubby!
5: I was not going to keep trying til we had a girl~she was an unexpected blessing!
6: I used to be very quiet and shy.
7: I do not enjoy shopping!

Abigail

This is Abigail in our back yard.

Pray for Johnathan

This is Sam Jr. and Robin Ogg's baby Johnathan. He goes to a specialist tomorrow to see why he can't potty. I understand that some of his nerve endings are possibly dead and that is what is wrong. He can go some but it is very hard on him. Not that it matters the problem but this is a BM thing. His mommy is hoping for a miracle without surgery. I have babysat him 2x and he is so sweet and adorable. In this pic we are all gathered around him (while Jacob holds him) making fools of ourselves to get him to

smile!

baby sittin'

Abigail spent the night along with her friend at my friends house to help with the baby and the 2.5 year old! I go over there and just hold him. He is so cute! The other night he was fussing a t church and his brother asked what was wrong with him and his mom did not answer since she was talking so he looked at me and asked, "what is wrong with my little shaver?" It was so cute! I do love babies.

Back!

Well, I finally came out of hiding! I was so down for a few days I sure did not want to get on here! I never got depressed as a teen but as an adult I seem to every now and then! My mom called me last night and evidently the cousin we visited with a few weeks back is near death's door. She told them she was ready to go so to just let her. She turned bad quickly I guess because except for the alzheimers she seemed fine when we visited. Well, not much going on right now. We have new stores that I am going to go visit: Michael's, Bed bath and beyond and Circuit City as well as some others. We even have Famous footwear. I thought that was a thing of the past.

My friend Sara

Didn't Sara do a wonderful job of fixing my pic up!? She knows my vital info so she could ruin my life if she wanted to but I trust her not to do that! Thank you Sara and love you dearly. Now I really regret that we weren't able to hook up!

Old Age?

Age is definitely a number only---my great aunt talks alot about the old people who live in her building and she will be 89 this month...when we (mom, Rita Campbell and myself) went to see her we also saw my mom's cousin who has had alzheimers for at least 7 years. They were discussing a man who thinks he is something and my aunt thinks he is an awful person because he acts like he is cute and such, well, Louise(the cousin) thinks he is handsome also! It was funny! Louise remembered my mom but not the the rest of us. I guess my mom is memorable like that! I saw Louise looking at mom so I went and got her and brought her over with us and she asked who I was because I was pretty so mom told her I was her daughter and she said, "I don't care who she is she is pretty." (?) She had just asked that.....yep she definitely has that disease! She is so sweet though. Mom asked about her husband being a detective and she said that yes he was but he had been gone for a long time (he has) but she turned around and said I loved him I really, really did. I sneaked a peek at mom and yes, she had tears in her eyes too.

Almost new!

I am nearly back to my old self. Daniel will be so surprized when he gets home tonight. I made his favorite cookies and I am making noodles and mashed potatoes as well as deviled eggs and vegetables. I usually always cook since I love doing it and it is cheaper for us but since returning home from vacation I have been wiped out! Anyway, thank the Lord that I am near normal again!

New Header

Ok, I will definitely have to figure out how to make this smaller but this is one of the beautiful views we saw in Tennessee!

Brother and Sister Thompson

It was a joy to see the Thompson's again! I do not know if she remembered us but that does not matter....she sure smiled alot! I hope she got some of the fudge that Daniel made and left for the get-to-gether because he did it just for her!

Marvin and Jacob

This is a picture of our dear friend Marvin: I took this to show how much Jacob had grown since we left Columbus....he was shorter than me and I am 5.5!

One of those days...

Well, I have been miserable since Tuesday. We came home through the mountains and it messed my ears up badly. Anyway, I was going to be brave and strong and went to get ready for church last night and was preparing to do my hair...I did a double take when I looked in the mirror, I had not done my hair all day! It was a mess. I decided not to go to church because the only way I could get any relief was to put a Q-tip in my ear and hang my head at an angle with my mouth open. (yes, I took a pic and no it will not appear on here.) I was not attractive. Well, Jacob decided yesterday to finish pulling up the carpet and the living room was in disarray so I had to plug in a lamp and sure enough I leaked my honey off my honey bread sandwich onto the floor and chair. Since I can't bend over without my brain feeling like it was coming out my ear I did the lazy thing and used my foot. I AM MISERABLE! I was awake quite a bit last night. I did not even really comprehend when Daniel left today. My cousin Penny gave me some ear drops so I will see if they work. I sure hope so because I do not like this!

Can I still cook?

I only cooked one meal in 11 days. That was a chicken and noodle dinner for Daniel's Brother and sister-in-law and their family. They seem to think I am the only one that can do that. I find that easy to do but since she does not I made them. I hope I still know how to cook after all that time! Tonight is meatloaf so I will find out if I am still able!

Back home again

I am thankful to be home again. We logged in over 2,500 miles! The drive there was uneventful but the drive home was very nerve wracking! We got in to blinding rain around Atlanta and behind an accident. Then right before we were going to stop for the night we got behind another accident! I was real nervous about that one because we ended up stopping over a bridge and there were semi's and several other cars on it. I was scared....well, petrified actually but going back in my mind to my days in Christain school I remembered Psalm 91:11-12. And he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot upon a stone. Yes, I know that heavy people float but so do dead ones! That verse did help though! So, Thank you Father for a wonderful trip seeing friends and family as well as for traveling mercies! I was happy that Bud Dunn was having a birthday because that allowed us to have fellowship with friends after church! I was also blessed to hear my mom sing on Wednesday and she sings just as beautifully as she ever did. She was fired up~seems like the Lord is really helping her in her devotions.

Just a quick note...

I am headed to Wal-Mart to get the last minute stuff so I can get home and work until church time tomorrow! I have no plans to leave the house until then but who knows. By the way, I bought an Eeyore cross stitch to do! YAH! One of my favorite guys! I am all in the mood to scrapbook so now I will look forward to coming home and getting started. I did my friends and loved ones page and it turned out pretty good! See some of you this weekend and see others when I return. Love ya'll!

Headed Home

Well, it is Monday and as of right now..............we will pull out of here on Thursday. I am going to go buy myself a cross-stitch because I do not want to deal with the 2 big ones I have and I can't sit for all those hours and do nothing. I wonder if they have ovens that you can plug in and use to bake. I thought about bringing my scrapbooking stuff but I need lots of space so that will not work. That leaves crosstitch I guess. Anyway, hope to see some of you soon!

Deep Thinking.....

I was looking through pictures yesterday because I am planning to make a page of friends and loved ones that have passed away. I have not done this yet because reactions have run the scale...I have had some raised eyebrows and "some that is a great idea" as well as one "you are so sick" I believe. If I do this it will be of people when they were alive and well so I don't personally see anything so sick about it. Anyway, it got me to thinking because as I was looking at these pics everyone of them had their own unique personality. It set me to thinking of when we were having our kids the reactions we got from "we would never have anything" to "that is wonderful." I guess if we didn't have 4 we might have more "things" but we would of missed out on so much because they are all unique. I also wondered what people would say or remember about me if I were gone. I asked the Lord to help me be a kinder more gentler person because I guess most of us want to be remembered as good and decent! Anyway, that is my thought for this day....I want to maybe make the world a better place for my having been here!

FOOD!!!

While I was somewhat confined to the house I cooked and cleaned.....ok I cooked more than cleaned but I made the YUMMY, FUDGY, PUDGY cake from the latest TOH magazine and it was soooo good. I also make homemade bread and several other things that were good. Those of you who get TOH you need to try the cake and it you do not get the mag you can go to their site and get recipes. This is not the cake but it is similar!

Janiece, did you get the recipe I sent to you from TOH? Oh, is it a sign of old age that wringing a rag out several times while cleaning my cabinets caused me great hurt in my wrist? Do I need to halt all cleaning?

Written in stone....sort of

As far as I know we will leave here on August 16th and head to Indiana. We will be at church on the 19th if the Lord wills and as far as I know so will my mom. I am excited to be there but I dread the trip. I get road weary after the first 100 or less miles. I told Daniel I would have to dig out my cross stitch! I only do that on trips it seems. I would rather cook than do fancy work!

Random thoughts

I have not been here for a few days because I have been dealing with an "issue" I don't care to discuss as well as cleaning house because it needs to be spotless when we leave to head North. Daniel's idea~~not mine! Anyway, I was cleaning the inside of my cabinets and it was quiet in my house......as your kids get older they get quiet now and then and it does not mean they are painting walls or giving each other haircuts! Anyway, it was TOO quiet so I popped my mom's tape in and she was singing, "when I survey" and it was beautiful. I asked Abby if she could just see the sorow and love flowing down but I guess that was for me alone because she could not. I still love to hear my mom sing and there are some songs that are just hers! (in my head) Just like I really don't care to hear anyone except Karen sing "wall of Prayer" Yes, I have heard that Brian Free sings it beautifully but I just don't care 'cause that is "Karen's song." And "Champion of Love" is Sara, Janiece's and Marylee's. I am weird I know. I wonder why people like you all get nervous to sing. My mom gets nervous and I asked why and she said she just does. Now if I could sing I do not think I would get nervous at all! I was singing the other day and Jacob(unbeknownst to me) was on the phone and his friend wanted to know what it was and Jacob said I was singing and that the fact that I can't do that never stopped me. Wonder if he thought someone was killing a cat!!!???? When we were told to make a joyful noise God was covering people like me! I do make a joyful noise!

Our Friend

Another of our Dear friends has gone on before us...We were so saddened to hear that Brother Fritz had parted this life. Well, we were sad for ourselves but glad for him that now he is strong and full of life again. He was our pastor for most of the 8 years that we lived in Michigan and he was very kind and such a gentle person. Jonathon knew him better than our other children and thought for a long time that he was his grandpa.

Behind every dark cloud!

Yesterday I throughly cleaned my room...papers, letters and all! I was cleaning my ancient brass trunk and came across several letters and cards from people who are now in Heaven. Bob Campbell, my grandma and Daniels Grandma and Sister Fritz( Sara's mom) and I laughed a little and cried alot. While in the process of all this I thought alot about Heaven. Went I finally went to bed I was listless so I decided to get up. If I sit in a certain chair I can look out my picture window and the back windows pretty much at the same time. Let me tell you one thing... Our GREAT, BIG AWESOME God was putting on quite a show. There was lightening behind the clouds as well as streak lightening and it was gorgeous! Suddenly it popped in my head that maybe Bob Campbell could see all this too. After thinking on Heaven for awhile I went to bed and I dreamed............Bob Campbell was being judged and after his judging God told him he had done well and Bob jumped off this little platform in to Heaven and when he did he said, "Well, I say Hallelujah! People it was worth it." The reason that is so special to me is because those of you who knew Bob know that there were times when the prelude music was playing that he would jump up and say those exact words except then it was if we make it it will be worth everything! You know, he was right!

Enchiladas

Does anyone have a recipe for Chicken Enchiladas that I can make without making the sauce from scratch? I dirtied so many dishes yesterday making them that I would really rather do something different! Sara, I sure wish you would babysit so we could go back to La Senorita! I loved that place! Daniel and I rarely date anymore which is dumb since the kids are old enough to watch themselves and Abigail usually is off at her "sister's." This is not a pic of my enchiladas. Just an ask.com thing!

FOOD!

Well, my supper turned out pretty good---I never seem to go wrong with TOH! Abigail sure was disappointed though. One of the batteries that came with her camera was nearly dead so she was unable to get a pic...after she went through the trouble of making name cards for the meal! Oh, well we have new batteries so she can get started and go gung-ho!

Finally

Well, Abigail got her camera today! She has taken care of people and washed and swept the van as well as begged a little (Not counting the change I slipped her.) to get this thing. Hers is black. She was so happy to have a $100 for a couple days. She said, "wow, sure doesn't take a girl long to spend more than $100!" She doesn't have a clue! I got up early and mixed a batch of bread and made a cake while she swept the van and cleaned the bathroom. It sure is motivating when she is told we will not leave the house until her stuff is done! I am going to go home in a little while to do my pork roast. I am also going to have mashed potatoes and broccoli with our rolls and cake. I am making the chocolate cake with a mint layer in the middle from TOH mag. It looks good! I sure hope it is. Maybe Abigail will take a picture or 2. She has a blog but says it is boring. Like mother, like daughter I guess!

Back Home Again in Indiana

If all goes as planned perhaps we will be seeing this sign sometime in August. If so it will be the latter part. For some reason Daniel has chosen the third week and I do not care as long as we get to come home. I want to see family and friends...I have not seen some of you for more than 2 years and some even longer. (yes; Sara, I am going to do my best to get with you.)

A LITTLE FRIEND

This is my friend Nathan--he is another Ogg. He will be joined by a little brother in August. He was eating olives after church.

favorite kitchen tool

If there were one tool in your kitchen you would not want to lose what would it be? Mine would have to be the cookie dipper that belonged to my Grandma Schnell. I have used it for more than 10 years now and I do not know how long she used it before that. It has dipped LOTS and LOTS of cookies! I make at least one batch a week and sometimes more. My Grandma was a wonderful cookie baker and my grandpa would never tell the men he worked with how she got them so perfect so they thought she was extremely wonderful!

Our Flutist

I got this shot unexpectedly so it is not real great but she loves that thing!

pictures

This is a picture of:

Kayla, 5

Jenny, 3

Luke almost 6

Emily, 3

Kayla and Jenny belong to Charlotte and Ted

Luke and Emily belong to Kathy and Brian

pictures

This is Jacob and his friend Nathan
This is Kathy ogg's(Schnells's) little girl Emily

COOKIES

Yesterday I had a great desire for oatmeal cookies and believe it or not I could not find a basic recipe in all my books--at first. I did not want fruit and all the stuff some of them called for. I finally found one and above that was a recipe for butter cookies so I made them also. That leads me to a question: I used a cookie press and they did not do real well. Does anyone know if I should of cooled the dough in the press? I made umbrellas but after they baked I think they would of made better elephants with a curled trunk! I love to bake and I have a few friends here that like to be guinea pigs for me so I never have to waste anything!

HUH?

Ok, I have heard it all I believe. There is a guy behind me even as I write that is being loud(I am in the library). He came in LOUD and announced to everyone that he is mentally challanged, he is not kidding but I am wondering why he felt the need to advertise it. He has still not shut up!

I was afraid she might become attached to this one and it does not look like a killer!

Here is a cat for Angie Davis. I chose an ugly one so that after the mouse is gone Gene would be able to possibly shoot it! I will send it wrapped up nice and tight in a box!

Big Mouth

To those of you who read my long blog about my friend...I apologize. I still think she makes mountains out of molehills but that is her kid not mine so I need to shut up! I was worried that she would read the blog and I got to thinking if I don't want her to read it do I want God to? I decided that I didn't. I know he sees all things and I do not want to be unkind!

Our Van

This is the van that I mentioned awhile back! The Lord really worked it out for us to get it and we are so thankful. Karen and any other Bethelites---hopefully you will see this thing in the parking lot of the church before this year is out! We really want to come to Indiana and see all our friends!

Field Trip

This is our family with Sister Green on our field trip. I am not very photogenic---sorry!

Abigail and Snoopy

This is one of my favorite pictures of her with the dog. As I have said before I have had alot of fun with him. As most of my friends know I am not usually funny but shortly after we got him my cousins wife called and was talking about her baby girl(human) and I said, "did anyone tell you that we have a baby?" and she said no that noone had. I was like you have got to be kidding! I said I figured everyone would be talking about it and she said well noone ever tells us stuff. I acted all offended and was like well I would think mom would tell you. So I said I would and it went like this:

Me: he is a 3-month old boy

L.J. are you serious? I can't believe noone told me.

Me: yeh, he is so cute--lots of black hair

LJ really I still can't believe it

Me: neither can I but...he is adorable. He hardly ever cries and is so good.

LJ really?

Me: yeh, he sleeps in the laundry room

LJ HUH!?

Me: yeh, oh. he has 4 legs too

LJ WHAT??? Are you lying?

Me: no, his name is snoopy

LJ HUH?

ME: Yeh, oh by the way he's black---a lab

LJ, oh, you are so not funny!

Me: it was too and you know it.

Hey, she hasn't called me since. Better call her huh!?

Right side up!

There for those of you that saw this already I fixed it! Sara, this is at Jupiter Island Inlet. Daniel and the kids, as well as the teacher went clear to the top. Since I had never been there I knew that I could not of possibly left anything there so I stayed down at the bottom!

Happy Anniversary

Since I will not be here on my anniversary I want to wish my dear husband a very HAPPY anniversary. Sunday July 1st we will celebrate 18 years of marriage. I can't believe so much time has passed. I hope to spend many more years with you! You truly are the love of my life!

Days Gone By

This is for all the gals that loved Hello Kitty long ago. I saw a reference to it on Sara's blog. Now my daughter is already outgrowing it~some. There is still some going on! On another note.........yesterday was my mother-in-laws birthday! At lunch today my dear husband asked me to slap him upside the head so I did. Then I said, "now, tell me why I needed to do that." He said, because he forgot to call his mom! OOPSIE! So did I! Not a good thing. At first I thought he was going to tell me that he had almost forgotten that Sunday is out anniversary!

God Bless America

It seems like everywhere you look or no matter what station you tune in to noone has anything good to say about America. There is some truth to some of what is said but America is still great! If it weren't then why are so many trying to get here? Anyway, I was reading in the Bible last night and it says "when you see these things come to pass to lift up your head your redemption draweth nigh." So, in spite of all the scarey things it is no time to give up or shirk! In the meantime.......may God truly bless us and..........GOD BLESS AMERICA!

For the love of Pooh

AHH! The joys of Pooh and friends. I think I will always love those guys! At least I hope I never out-grow them. Maybe I should tell Daniel and the kids I want my nursing home room done in Pooh and friends!

correction

I guess I am a certified nut for sure. Jonathon's birthday is not June 29th it is June 30th.

This is what our baby used to look like! We think he is adorable!

My puppy

I have had more fun with this puppy than I even imagined I would. I bought a scrapbook on Friday that is set up just for dogs~yes, Daniel gave me the "I can't believe you" look. The other day I wanted him to sit for me and I don't even have to tell him to sit. I just say "what does a good dog do?" and he sits......I got the look then too! That is ok though. I just like to be creative in the way I do things. My dear hubby knows down deep that one of the things he loves about me is the way I do things. He might come home one day and find everything in its place then the next I might have scrapbooking stuff everywhere. I try to keep him guessing!

Time marches on!

WOW! Sometimes I look around me and wonder where the time has gone. Jonathon will be 17 on June, 29th. Sunday July 1st Daniel and I will celebrate 18 years of wedded bliss and that will also be the 10th anniversary of my Aunt Janet's passing. It was 10 years ago in March that my grandma passed away. In some ways all of these things seem like yesterday and then there are times it seems like even longer!

More lizardage

I forgot to mention that I suggested a name for the lizard when Jacob asked my opinion. I think cat bait would work nicely. Also, my mom and I were discussing the iguana issue and even though we know that God created ALL things we questioned that he would create those things but finally came to the conclusion that he did and they are just part of the curse. Could that be a possibility?

Leapin' lizards!

UGH! Jacob is desperately wanting an iguana and I do not like things that slither or are related to things that slither. The other night I was in bed and the kitchen light was on but I did not go in there because they are all old enough to get their own drinks and such. Was there ever a surprize waiting the next day. Notes regarding lizards were everywhere! Including one about his green and scaley iguana---to the tune of Achey breaky heart!? Ok. Well, that was cute and all but did not convince me so for the last few days I have been told repeatedly(does 100 times a day constitute repeatedly) how cute and sweet I am as well as compliments on how well I do everything. Hmmmmmmmmmm......kissing up is what that is called. I need some good reasons why this kid cannot have a lizard. He is so hard to say no to at times and his dad is not saying anything against it.

Getting Spoiled

Well, I have talked to Seth everyday and he is getting spoiled. My mom actually functions in the A.M. unlike me so she is cooking breakfast! I told him today not to get used to it because my food is not edible until 10:00 or after and he said, he would just get Abigail to do it! My boys actually like her scrambled eggs better because I use a little milk to make them fluffy and she just cooks them. Mom said that Seth finally starting to be able to eat. He is a lefty and the only thing sticking out of his cast is his thumb. He uses a spoon like a shovel (which I normally hate) but you gotta do what you gotta do I guess! I will let it slide for now! HA!HA!

Country Sampler

I would like to know if any of you that read this have ever bought from Country Sampler and were you satisfied? I love their stuff but hesitate to buy things I can't see. Daniel gets ideas out of there to make me things---well he gets ideas! My next desire is for him to make a shelf I can put cookbooks on. A distressed sort of thing!

My Helper

Abigail has gone to help an older lady from the church for a few days. It is hard for me to realize that she is old enough to do that. She has helped my mom for years. I do believe she started fixing eggs and such when she was around 6 or 7. Sometimes I don't realize just how helpful she is until she is gone! She fixed breakfast and lunch when she was helping the lady a couple weeks ago so I guess if I ever get to where I can't cook we won't starve to death! The boys even eat her food so that says alot! This lady has a sister who is confused and says whatever comes to mind but Abigail tries not to giggle! The other week she came out with her shirt undone and her sister told her and she informed her that she didn't care and that if her sister didn't hush she'd go back to her room and come out without one---so she hushed!

Update on Seth

My mom got concerned with his finger so took him to the E.R. (that was easier than finding a doc) they took an x-ray and found it to be off the growth plate so he is on his way right now to Children's Hospital in Cinncinnati to the ortho clinic to let them put on a real cast. They said this was necessary since he is not done growing yet.

wonderful Sara

My friend from way back when was so sweet to help me put the blogs on my comp. I am nearly incompetent when it comes to some things on here. Thank you Sara for doing that and for being the most wonderful babysitter when my kids were little. Remember when Tony was pacing the floor thinking he would have to take me to the hospital to have Seth because Daniel was being a slowpoke and he did not want to assist in the delivery? That was funny! So much time has passed it is hard to believe!

Missing Seth

I am so blue right now. It was go, go, go, to get Seth ready to go and now that he is gone I feel so let down....kind of like the day after vacation! I miss him alot but he is in good hands right now and is getting to be KING bee which sad to say is unusual for him since he is the last of the male pack! His teacher Sis. Green loves him to death and thinks he is just great. She bought the foods and such that he likes for the trip and that made him feel special~especially since she bought PEPSI which she doesn't buy for her and her hubby! He is supposed to get to my mom's at 2:00 p.m. today so mom is also excited! I only hope his finger is not broken from the fight he started (and I finished) where he evidently hit his brother just right (or just wrong-matter of opinion.) That would be bad if mom has to take him to the Dr. from the get-go! By the way, his brother did not do the achy-breaky finger he did it himself!

Gone at last

Well...my Seth left at 6:30 this morning. That means I was in the shower at 5:15! Unheard of for me. The crazy part is Daniel had to drive right past our friends house to where he is working right now but I still wanted to get up and take Seth there. I am so sleepy but have tried 2x to nap and can't so I am gonna prop my eyeballs open and bite the bullet and stay awake until bedtime. I already miss him and I called my mom at 11:30 and told her to send him right back when he gets there but she laughed. I found out that he told a friend he was never coming back. Little Turkey! Please to all my friends, pray that God will help my mom to help Seth get over some of his bad feelings toward people and to realize that missing Heaven is not worth anything! I want all my children to spend eternity in Heaven!

Busy.........

A week from today Seth will be leaving to go to my mom's for the summer. He has been working hard to earn money so he can take her out to eat! I will miss him but he has been looking forward to this almost ever since she left! I am bummed because I want to go too! My kids love my mom because she is so funny and believe it or not because she makes them mind! They also love her cooking. Seth is anxious for Goulash (UGH!) and bar-b-que chicken. (YUM!) I mean goulash doesn't even sound edible!

Worn Out!

WOW! We stayed home yesterday---well mostly. I helped Daniel for a little while. He was installing a counter top. After he nearly got me with a hammer---it flew out of his hand--I went home and did alot of yard work and he along with Seth and Abigail washed the truck, trailer and van. I cleaned alot of foliage from around the house and Daniel being helpful and all asked me what I would do if a snake came out at me and I told him to hush then he saw a big spider and said he would be more worried about them! GGGRRRR.......I finally told him to either be quiet or go away! I am quite sore now since I am not a yard work type of gal. I think along the lines of cookie sheets and cookie dough than I do clippers and rakes.

Still Running

I learned last night that I can still run! Friends stopped by to pick up Abigail to take her to spend the night and our dog loves them so when they went to leave he decided to go along and he got away from Seth and ran onto the Highway. I started to run after him and so did Daniel and Seth. He decided he did not like the road so came home anyway but I was quite upset with him and let him know it. For the rest of the evening he gave me that sad "puppy dog" look. By the way, I can also still scream like a girl as my kids call it!

Time

Ok, this nuts. These times are totally wrong---it looks like I am on here 24/7 and I am not.

My Blog

I am having a hard time getting a page that I like. I am just about ready to give someone my password so they can fix it for me but I am not sure which friend to trust with this task!

Weird cravings

I have had the weirdest cravings lately. I know what it is not now I just have to figure out what it is. Last week it was for something sickenly sweet so I made a chocolate cake and poured marshmallow creme mixed with sweetened condensed milk over it and then warm chocolate frosting---certainly fit the bill! By the way, it was delicious! Last night I wanted pudding so I mixed chocolate pudding with peanut butter and cream cheese---it wasn't so good! All these things happen when I am trying to diet. I had even quit drinking PEPSI! Boo Hoo!

Kittens

I feel like the old woman who lived in a shoe---except we have kittens. When we moved into our house we were blessed with cats left behind, well, they have done as commanded and been fruitful and multiplied now we have 4 cats and 13 kittens! Not to be mean but fortunately not all of them survive. I am gonna set a live trap and take some to the pet store or animal shelter 'cause they drive me nuts at times. One upside we never see snakes and rarely a lizard. A baby lizard sure is cute though! Anyway, a cat had a baby and abandoned it and my dear husband tried his best to get to it but before he could it uuummm....stopped crying! I told him he was so sensitive and he was asking what that was supposed to mean and i informed him that, that was one of the things I love about him!

COOKIES!

WOW! I am worn out! I made soooo many cookies yesterday! I do not have very many talents but I wanted to do something for our mechanic who recommeded where to get a good used vehicle and I couldn't possibly leave out the guy who sold us a car and then there were others that I thought could use a cookie so..........I made chocolate chip, snickerdoodles as well as peanut butter! My friend thinks I have a talent for making people at home if they just drop in but I was like, "honey that ain't no talent, that's just called not much affects me!" My philosophy is if you don't like how my house is ya won't come back! By the way, anyone is welcome in my home and chances are there will be some dessert in my house to feed you! By the way it was a van not a car! Also, I do speak better English than that---sometimes!

OUR NEW VAN

I AM SO HAPPY AND THANKFUL THAT THE LORD PROVIDED A VAN FOR US. SEEMS LIKE IT WAS SPECIAL ORDERED JUST FOR US. RIGHT SIZE, COLOR AND PRICE. OK, THE PRICE THING WAS THE BIGGY NOT TO MENTION THAT OUR VAN JUST COULD NOT GO ANY FURTHER. I WAS NOT SURE IF "THE ENGINE FELL OUT" WAS A LITERAL THING OR NOT SO I WAS NERVOUS TRYING TO GET TO THE CAR LOT. DANIEL INFORMED ME THAT IT DOES NOT LITERALLY MEAN THAT BUT A ROD COULD GO THROUGH THE SIDE. I AM GLAD I DID NOT SHOOT ANYONE!

Our Baby

OK, I ONLY THOUGHT HAVING A PUPPY WOULD BE EASIER THAN HAVING A BABY. THE OTHER DAY WE CAME HOME AND WAS ON THE FRONT PORCH HHHHMMMM..... HE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE IN THE LAUNDRY ROOM. WELL, SOMEONE DID NOT SHUT THE DOOR TIGHT SO HE GOT OUT OF THE DOOR LEADING TO THE OUTSIDE. THE WEIRD PART IS HE WAS ACTING LIKE HE WOULD TAKE OFF BRYAN'S (DANIEL'S BOSS) ARM BUT AFTER HE RAN ONTO THE PORCH HE WAS AFRAID TO COME DOWN BECAUSE OF A PLASTIC BAG FLAPPING IN THE BREEZE. REAL BRAVE DOG THERE! THEN THAT NIGHT SOMEONE LEFT THE GARAGE DOOR OPEN AND HE MOSIED THROUGH THAT AND WAS EATING CAT FOOD! GGRRRR.....WILL HE LIVE TO ADULTHOOD LIKE THIS?????? HE IS A 7 MONTH OLD BLACK LAB THAT WE GOT FOR FREE SINCE HE WAS ABANDONED! HE IS SMART BUT EVIDENTLY HE LIKES HIS FREEDOM!

Wonderful Sunday

Yesterday was a wonderful day! Went to church both times of course then came home and had a pretty good meal---noone complained so I did not have to remind them of the starving kids in other places! I had my daily nap. Somehow I can never stay awake on Sunday even though I do not take naps during the week. I always say I will not nap so that I can go to sleep at night but.................

Friends

Our whole family along with my aunt and uncle and 2 cousins and their kids went to Ft. Meyers to see friends from Michigan. It was wonderful to see them and never dreamed that we would see them again on this side of the Jordan! We had a great visit but like all other long awaited visits it was way too short! This family took us under their wings when we lived in Michigan without family so they are extra special to us. (not to mention they also love Daniel's fudge)

A Good Day

You know that it is a wonderful day when you have found your pics you want to scrap book AND done a couple pages as well!