HodgePodge

As I sit here listening to the sound of the winter winds howling, the snow is flying and I am dreaming of 2 weeks ago when we were sunning ourselves in the fabulous Orlando. I am sure most of you already know...the reason for our Grand Gathering Celebration was Mom and Dad's 40th Wedding Anniversary. Quite a feat and well deserving of a Magical Celebration!

My most favorite picure!

The troops, who enjoyed every minute of the trip. They were very well behaved considering how utterly tired we all were.

What is Disney without a little fireworks above the castle. Here the castle is blue, but I have it in many other colors as well. Very cool. At one point Tinkerbell even flew away from the castle. True Disney magic!

We saw the charaters. Everyone loved them...except Matthew. He was skeptical from the beginning.

I can just guess what is going through his mind here "Touch my food duck and I won't be responsible for what happens!"

We monkeyed around at some of the rides...this was Toy Story...fun stuff!
The Disney Magic ended way too quickly. The second half of the trip was spent with Brandon's parents who flew down to spend a couple days there with us. It was truly a vacation from our vacation. The most strenuous thing we did was drive to the beach. I know, hard work, right??

Here are Grandma and Grandpa R. with the kids at Daytona Beach. The girls LOVED everything about it. Matthew kept saying "no big water", but he loved the sand and birds.

If you have been keeping up with bsktgirl, she has more pix posted there!

Summer in January

We have had 10 days of summer in January...and we loved every minute of it!
Just got home tonight...more pictures to come! Hope everyone is well...

Daytona Beach

Proud Mama

I have not been doing well at updating the blog or taking pictures. I don't think I will even try to update you all on the happenings in the month of November. We are all well and are looking forward to Christmas. Emma and I had the perfect opportunity to put the spirit of the season to work today. Emma and I participated with the rest of her Girl Scout troop in packaging 10,000 meals in 2 hours to help feed the starving in Haiti. I was very proud of all the hard work Emma put forth today. We learned that every 5 seconds a child dies from starvation. Our little church and community raised $18,000 to package 120,000 meals. Amazing.



Isaiah 58:10 "Feed the hungry, help those in need. Then your light shall shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around will be as bright as day."


Emma and I after we got home. She had such a good time, she wants to go back and work with me later this afternoon. I am one proud mama!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

Thought for the day:
I was watching CBS Sunday Morning.
They were talking about Halloween and did a story about obituaries.
They were talking to authors who write obituaries.
The lady commented that in all the obituaries that she has written...
she does not write about people's careers.
It is about life, love, relationships...
Her parting question.
What will mine say?

In full swing...

Fall is in full swing around here. We have had so many days of nice weather, I am scared the cold and, dare I say, the s-word is right around the corner. So Friday night we started a fire in the fire pit and enjoyed some beautiful October weather. A perfect night for sitting close to the fire to warm your toes!

We also spent Saturday afternoon watching history. That is the ISU Cyclones beating the Texas Longhorns in Austin no less. Beautiful. I would have been better if the Hawks had pulled off a win but I guess we can't be that lucky!

Today we made Halloween cupcakes with chocolate frosting and orange sprinkles. Heavenly!

Mmmmmm good!

For the Birds....

I like birds.
The kids like birds.
We listen to them sing.
We watch them build nests and catch worms.

Birds are not so much fun when...
they climb through the exhaust pipe of your furnace...
stop the furnace from working...
and cost $500 in repairs.
But wait...
not one...
not two...
but 3 birds decided to climb through the exhaust of our furnace.
*sigh*

The joys of home ownership.

Special Guests...

For the first time...
In 7.5 years...
Aunt Shel and Uncle Brian were able to attend one of the kids soccer games.
They were able to come and go in one day.
No overnight stay required.
No suitcases.
No airline tickets.
They were able to drive up for the day.
Hallelujah!
We are all so excited to have them close.

Madie and Aunt Shel before game time. Shel and Brian surprised the girls and showed up for dinner. The girls thought is was Grandma and Grandpa, with their car washed. Gotta love gravel roads!

Aunt Shel, Emma, Uncle Brian, Madie
We Love You!
Thanks for coming!

We took a trip up north a couple weeks ago. The kids had fun exploring Grandpa G.'s tractors.

A big step for a little boy!

Miss Em

Matthew reading on the trip up.

All the kids in the tractor...Ryan is in the gray sweatshirt...you can only see the back of his head!