Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

Williamsburg VA!

Well, we are back from vacation. It was a blast! I have not had so much fun in
such a long time! We arrived at Governors Green Resort on Sunday afternoon and
then we spent the rest of the time unpacking and settling in.
Monday started the excitement when we went to see the Crystal Concert in
Williamsburg. There is a man that plays the Glass Armonica that Benjamin Franklin
invented. He is one of the few. He also plays the Crystal Bachett, which was
invented in France by the Bachett brothers. The brothers are about 80 years old
and they train all the musicians themselves. The Japanese have also made him a
glass violin. It took 100 casts to make it perfect. He also plays a set of glass hand
bells that have a majestic sound to them.
After we finished at the concert we went to Yorktown to see the museum
there. Ben got to participate in a mock cannon firing. He had the tool that was
shaped like an energy saving floresant light bulb. It was used to loosen the grime
from the inside of the cannon. My mother was whispering in my ear the whole time
the guy was speaking about what each tool did so I didn’t hear too clearly all the
details. After the mock demonstration they actually fired the cannon! We all had
to plug our ears ahead of time, but it was still very loud. After that we went to the
arcade and swimming. The arcade was at Kings Gate and it cost $5 to get the
group in and then we had unlimited playing time.
On Tuesday the boys went to the arcade for 6 hours non-stop while we girls
went shopping. We went to the outlets, the pottery barn, and so many other
places that we spent 7 1/2 hours out. It was so much fun though. Aeropostale is
having huge sales. So is Van Houson and The Children’s Place and so many other
stores. We had some major savings.
After we got back we ate supper and then went to the arcade and then
swimming again. We swam inside because the heating gauge was broken in the
pool outside and it felt like we were swimming in the arctic. We came out
penguins. I was very glad the ladder was right beside me because otherwise I
would have had to stay in longer. It was cold. Ice water doesn’t even come close.
On Wednesday we went back to Williamsburg to do touristy things like gift
shops and the traditional gawking. We watched the Elementary School do their
Halloween parade thru the streets of Williamsburg.
On Thursday we went to Historic Jamestowne and the boys did the hands-on
canoe scraping like the Indians would have. After we finished there we took a ferry
to Surry and ate at a diner for lunch. Surry is an island that people live on. It's
about 20 miles wide. They actually have a ferry running year round for the people
on the island so they can still go to work. We were asking one of the security guys
questions about the boat and said that it takes around $40,000 to run the ferry
year round. All government funded. We went to the arcade and swimming again
that night.
On Friday the rest of the kids and Neil went back to Historic Jamestowne to see
the glass blowing and walk thru the area. Carol, Mom, and myself went to
Williamsburg to make reservations for Saturday night. The adults were going out
for a night on the town while we kids stayed at the resort to swim or watch TV.
We went to pick up dad that night from the train station. He used up all his
vacation days so he wasn’t able to get off all week.
On Saturday we went to the Golden Corral for breakfast then mom and dad
drove around looking at the different places since dad hadn't seen them. We kids
stayed back at the resort. Neil and Carol also went for a drive.
That evening Mom, Dad, Neil, and Carol went out for supper. They went to one
place for the main course and then for desert they went to the Trellis for dessert.
The Trellis is where the original Death by Chocolate was invented. The man who
invented it is the chef there. They brought some home. Oh, my, word. It was so
good. It's a little rich. I don’t know if I would have been able to eat the whole
thing, but it was still good. I loved every bite. Carol got the cookbook so she can
give the recipe to me and I can make it.
We started home on Sunday at about 10:30 am. We stopped with some family to
celebrate Betsy's 14th birthday and we surprised her good. My mom and her cousin
Veronica went to the kitchen to get the cake ready. Betsy got up to follow my
mom to the kitchen and I said, "Betsy, come sit with me. This chairs big enough."
She said "Okay... why?" I said, "Because we haven't sat together for a while." That
answer satisfied her. Then I said "I don't mind sitting with you because you won't
be subconsciously hit my leg like mom does." that made her grin because I had
moved off mom's lap earlier because she has a habit of hitting her let when she's
making a point, and my leg was on top of hers, so mine was the victim. Then mom
and Veronica came out of the kitchen with the candles lit and we sang "Happy
Birthday To You". Once the cake was done we talked and played Phase 10. We then
completed the last leg of our journey home. We got to Millersburg at about 7:30
Sunday evening. I slept very well. I woke up with a severe vacation hang over
though. All in all it was a very good vacation.

Trail Ride and Bridal Shower

Yesterday I had a wonderful trail ride! I left church and then went across the road to the farm where I have my horse to get ready for a 3 hour trail ride. It was so much fun! We went down the fence line and into the hollow. Then we went up the hollow and on the road for about a quarter to half a mile until we reached the Ned Smith Center railroad bed. There used to be a rail road that ran thru it but now the tracks have been torn out and it is used for hiking, four wheeling, horse back riding, and so much more. We took the Woodside Station Road trail up .7 miles to the top of the mountian. After that we took the Berry Mountain Trail across .7 miles to the power lines. The veiw was tremenous! We ended up going half way to my house. If it wasn't for the tops of the trees, I coulda seen my house. We saw the storage units right down from us as plain as day. I was amazed. It was beautiful up there though. I haven't seen something that nice in a long time. So we ate our lunch and then headed down the mountian. We took several trails to the bottom. I must say though that I took my riding to the next level. We went down hills that were on a 75 degree angle. It was so much fun though. Chaver's feet were bothering him though. When I went to take him out he was limping, then I got on him and he was fine. I think it's because he just got reshod so one of the nails might be a little tender on his feet.

We had a bridal shower at the barn for a lady named Jamie who is getting married on the 3rd of November. She is really sweet and she was so surprised. She was told that she was going to a surprise party for Shelby. Well, she walked in the barn door and we all holler "Surprise Jamie" and she looked at Shelby and hollered "Surprise" and then Shelby said, "No, Surprise" and then she got it and got so embarrassed and was so surprised that it was worth all the 15 seconds of confusion. :D We stayed up and had a bonfire and watched a movie. I wasn't really all that tired so I was the only one to last thru the whole movie. So I finally got to sleep at 2 am. I got up ag 7:30 am to get ready for church and then come back for a trail ride. It was so much fun though. We played horse oriented games. The cake was really good. The icing was more of a cool whipped icing than a frosting or a sweet icing. It was so good.

12 more days!!

Only 12 more days till our vacation to Williamsburg VA! I cannot wait! My life is so crazy that it has gotten to the point that I need a break from life. From school to work. It's about time for a break. We'll be seeing Jamestown, Shirly Plantation and so much more. The thing I am looking forward to the most is the Crystal Concert. There is a gentleman that plays crystal. He has a Glass Armonica, Violin, and several other instrements that he plays. They are entirely crystal though. We saw video clip online of his playing. It's beautiful. The tickets are cheap too! That's even better. I am so ready to go. We leave on the 28th and we're coming home on Betsy's birthday; the 4th. It's gonna be a wonderful week! I can hardly wait.

I've been working with my horse lately. On Sunday afternoon I went out to the barn and rode bareback. That was a little crazy on my part considering what I was doing. I was getting him to walk out the door with out a fight. Then I had him walk to the beginning of the trail without a fight. I accomplished it, but it was interesting because he will circle until he gets to where he wants to go. There was a new rule recently posted at the barn, "No troting in the indoor ring due to too many accidents." Well, Chaver got a little wound up. We kinda broke that rule for a couple seconds. I'm surprised that I didn't even have a hint of the feeling of falling off. I think that my guardian angel was working over time. I loved it though!

Susquehanna River in Halifax
Looking through "The Cheese" at the Lenkerville Elementary School playground. If this was able to be veiwed larger, you'd see myself and Carol reflected in his eyes. So cool!
On a huge rock on Berry Mountain
At the farm.
We had a wonderful time today photographing for about 2 hours. Our victim was Wyatt. We had so much fun! He was getting very tired of all the pictures though. He got 5 warm chocolate chip cookies in return for his services. That's the nice thing about kids his age. You don't have to give them money. Only food! :) These were taken with Carol's digital Canon. I was using a 35mm to take my pictures. They turned out so good. I have never used that camera before. It gave me exactly what I wanted though. Crystal clear too. Works for me!

More Apple Sauce!

Ugh! I think I almost have it coming out my ears! Yesterday we did apple sauce with some of our homeschool friends from the Harrisburg area. We did 2 1/2 bushels of apples. It was a long day. It took us from 1:30 to about 4:30 to get the apples cooked, cut, and mashed, and jarred. The canning took a little longer. It was a fun day though. Afterwards I went to the Gratz fair to help at a stand for the Northern Dauphin Revitalization Program. I worked with Alan Dakey and Bob Klinger. I thought it was rather interesting how when I gave them a hand shake when I walked up, they gave "wet fish" hand shakes. They weren't very strong and so I felt bad because I felt like I almost crushed their hands. So, then when I left, I got firm handshakes. I was rather amused.

Apple Sauce

Wow, I am so impressed. We did a bushel and a half of apples for apple sauce. It only took us about 2 hours. We did it on our patio out back. Some of our homeschool friends are coming on Monday and we're going to do two and a half bushels of apples. Another bushel for us, and a bushel and a half for them. I hope it doesn't rain. If it does we'll be doing it on the front porch. It's nice that it counts for school. When we slice the apples we cut them into eightths or sixteenths. We can count the number of apples we use. There's the math! Home Ec for making the apple sauce, cooking the apples, slicing apples, washing them, grinding them. It's all there. Hooray for homeschooling!

Happy Birthday Millersburg!

Hooray! Millersburg is 200 years old this year! To celebrate there was a huge 3 hour long parade, a pagent, a fireman's parade, a carnival, a bench auction, and a grand finale of fireworks. It was a full weekend. It was wonderful though. We had several big names come in for the parade including the Budweiser Clydes. My sister and I walked with Lifeline Pregnancy Care Center throwing out candy and handing out pens. I saw many people I know; some I had forgotten about. Pretty sad isn't it. On Saturday after the parade my mother lead the Time Capsule ceremony. The Time Capsule is going to be buried in an unmarked spot behind the gazebo on the square. They are putting many things in it. It's amazing to hear some of the history of the things that happened in the history of Millersburg. Millersburg was just over 50 years old when Abraham Lincoln gave his Gettysburg Address. It makes everything seem a whole lot sooner than it seems. I always had the feeling of the Civil War being forever and a day ago, but really it's a whole lot more recent than I realized. The pagent was absolutely beautiful. It went through the whole history of Millersburg including when Daniel Miller first came to the town. He really liked the area and convinced people to settle down with him and his family. He was a minister and school teacher. So he proveded for those needs in the community. Then they gave flashbacks to Nelson's Ice Cream Parlor. Betsy was in that scene. Then the lead charactor played "Johnny Be Good" on his guitar with his band. They did an excelent job. Then they did some modern day scenes. After that, a flashback to the flood of '72. They had an intermission and then the choir got on stage and sang patriotic songs. They had a giant flag to bring out during a couple songs. Betsy, Ben, Mom, Dad, and I helped to bring it out. I got to see, and work with some people I know. It was so much fun. It gave a good workout though because I got to crouch down on one knee for 5 minutes to wave the flag and not be in anyone's line of vision. It was fun though. On Sunday night we did the final performance and that's when everything worked perfectly. The fireworks went off and the explosions worked too. Actually there was one that shook the ground because it was supposed to be like a bomb exploding. Well, it set off a car alarm. It was so funny! During a very solumn part where we were supposed to be reverent, and "Honk, honk, honk, honk..." It was hilarious. They owner came over and shut it off then, but we couldn't help but chuckle at least a little bit. They had a tribute to 9/11/01 and to close we had fireworks. It was really nice. Ben, Dad, and I stayed and helped tear down the sound equipment and wrap up. We got to talking with the guys and learned that they were going to be in the area again on Saturday for the SonicFlood concert along with The Silver Ring Thing. The concert turned out really well. Dad, Ben, and I went and I got to hang out with my co-workers from the Gratz market. The band is from Australia. They talk like them too. One had a better accent than the other, but they were Aussies for sure. All in all, I had alot of fun. We did have rain before hand and so the Silver Ring Thing got rained out, but they still had the concert.
I have some sad news too. Well, sad for my brother. Steve and Ethan Jr. have gone to a watery grave. They took a trip down the Porcelin Express and are Resting In Peace. The poor fish. So we are down to 4 fish; Blanche, George, Tiny, and Samuel Yoder.
Well, I had better go. I plan on going to the barn and riding my newly aquired horse, Chaver. We'll see how it goes today. I need to get him a stronger bit because his mouth is hard as a rock. It's gonna be good though.

Birthday!!!

Tonight was a celebration of Ethan's birthday (Sept. 5) and Grandma Yoder's birthday (Sept. 6). We had a combined cake...something we have not done before...to celebrate the both of them. Mom turned 73 today and Ethan turned 11 yesterday. We sat outside on our patio, and we enjoyed the cool breezes after a very warm day. This morning we went out for breakfast to celebrate mom's birthday. It was a friend, Ann, and my sisters Maggie and Judith plus me. The kids stayed home and did their schoolwork...mean mom that I am! We didn't think mom would see this birthday so we made sure to celebrate it. My dad called me from work today and had me pick up 6 red roses for mom...made tears come to my eyes to think about how special it is to have a dad who still loves his wife...so many people don't know what it's like to have parents that still love each other after 50+ years. We are a blessed family!

Family....

On Sunday, Sept. 2, we had 26 members of our family, in our little house and postage-stamp yard, over for lunch. We had a good time...I think! I don't have pictures of everyone, but here are a few. We are a crazy bunch as you will see. There is no doubt that we have a good time together. With 7 great-grandchildren under the age of 6...there is bound to be a lot of noise!


The "three"! Amy, Abi, and Dawn.

Josh (the boyfriend we met) & Amy

Maggie, Jo, Judith, Me, with our parents. Yes, we are in birth order...we don't seem to be able to do a picture any other way. :)

Silly kids...Jonathan & Dawn goofing off. Dawn loves to wear hats. Can you believe she is a sophomore in college?! Love you, Dawn!

Far left is Jonathan holding his first cousin once removed, Caitlyn. Right is my sister with her grandson, Gideon, and great-neice, Caitlyn.





Jennifer is being cute.

Levi enjoying his dinner.

Our Family Grew By... 5?!

Yes. It's true. The Shetterly family grew by 5. We now have 6 goldfish. We went to the Bicentennial celebration down along the river and we won 5 goldfish. They are Tiny, Blanche Jr., Ethan Jr., Steve, and George. Our fish Samuel Yoder doesn't quite know what to do with all the company! Tiny is about the size of a guppy and Samuel is about the size of a baseball, or maybe a softball. He is huge. We've got a David and Goliath thing going on. Ha ha. Actually, my brothers and sister were concerned that they would come down this morning and find some of the fish eaten. I knew they wouldn't because my Sammy is so gentle. He's the Jolly Orange Giant. So, that brings the number of animals/fish of this household up to 8 with 1 cat, 1 horse, and 6 goldfish.

Work Camp

I figure that since my mom said about how I was at work camp, I might as well as fill you in on what happened. So, my friend and I went to the Juniata County Work Camp. We went with Teens In Missionary Service. (T.I.M.S.) We were stationed at the Christian Retreat Center(CRC) in East Waterford, PA. Since my friend and I went individually, without our youth group, we were placed with other youth groups that came. I was placed with Antrim BIC and my friend, Tim, with Carlisle BIC. I don't know what all Tim's group did. My group went to the Juniata County Friendship Club in Mexico, PA. We were told that we had two jobs. To build a wheelchair ramp, and install and handicaped bathroom. Simple right? Well, we didn't have enough to do, so we 4 girls were sent downstairs to see if we could do anything down there. Well, they were cleaning, painting, and organizing the kitchen. Dirt doesn't usually make me squirm. Ask anyone. They'll tell ya. I usually do the dirty jobs. This kitchen was so dirty that I got queasy. It was disgusting. I opted for visiting with the people who come and stay there for the day. So that's what I did. I got done doing that and then they had me take the ceiling down in the men's bathroom so that they could run pipes up for the handicaped bathroom upstairs. So Rachel and I did that. As you can see, me and my shortness had a hard time with that. I ended up standing on a chair. Let me tell you, that light bulb was bright, and hot as all git' out. As soon as we finished that it was time for lunch. Everyone gathered in a circle, held hands, and then they started in on prayer. I ended up painting after lunch. The guys really made a lot of progress on the ramp. I was tired of being down stairs doing little tiny projects that only took 2 minutes so the next day I went upstairs to see if I could help anywhere. They didn't need me yet so I went back down stairs to help there again. I ended up putting some shelves together. They were PVC pipe and plastic so they assembled fine, but I didn't notice that they had knobs on one side, so I assembled two of them only half way right and had to take them apart and redo them. On Wedensday I was scraping paint off a cement wall untill noon when we went to a state park called Cowens Gap. They had a lake and picnic areas. It was so nice. We played a card game called James Bond. Everyone was teasing me because the night before I called it John Wayne because I couldn't remember what to say. I found out a couple weeks later that someone else called it John Brown. So I'm not the only one that makes dumb mistakes like that. Ha ha. On Thursday we were joined by the other group from Antrim BIC because they had the plumber. This plumber however, also knew enough about electricity to be dangerous. We had to put in a new fuse box, install 6 outlets, and rewire a light, all without getting killed. Well, Myron, (the plumber) was poking his plyers around in the fuse box. Owen and I were doing the electric, and we were both real jumpy since it was our first time doing anything with electricity other than plugging an appliance in. Well, Myron touches two old wires together that weren't insulated right, and there was sparks and an explosion. It scared Owen and I so bad that we jumped out of the 2x4 bathroom and started laughing hystarically. I laughed so hard that I had to sit down. Well, everyone came running and I couldn't stop laughing so they laughed too. After the initial shock wore off it was even funnier. Myron just put his pliers back in because he couldn't see anything and then he asked if he had any eyebrows left. Then we went for ice cream at a local ice cream shop. It was actually about half way between the camp and our work site. It was rather interesting because I walked up to the window to order and the guy looked at me and said, "Weren't you here last week?" I said, "No, I don't think so. I was in Millersburg last week." He said, "You just look so familiar." I thought to myself, I said, "Self, I'll bet Katie Group was here last week." Katie is a friend of ours that constantly gets mistaken for my sister. My mom says that if she got contacts we could be twins. I see a little bit of resemblance, but not that much. Then we went back to have a big supper. None of us were very hungry, but we ate anyway. Then we went and played more sports. I played a lot of the guys sports like, Street Basketball, Street Football two-hand-touch, and Street Football Tackle. I had so much fun. Friday night we played tackle and Owen tackled me once, and Brent tackled me once. I almost had Trent, but he was always one step ahead. When Owen tackled me he took me out with a dive, caught my shoulders, and I found myself scooting backwards. When Brent took me out, I knew what was coming. He grabbed me by the shoulders and just kinda picked me up and swung me around a little bit and then put me down nice and easy like. But what I found hilarious was that when he started to come after me all the other guys started shouting, "Easy Brent, take it easy, NO, relax, don't hurt her." He grabs my shoulders and just kinda yell, "Shooooooooooootttttt!" I don't know who won that game. You can tell by the third picture why it was so easy for him to do the type of tackle he did. His twin brother Brandt is in the grey shirt holding a board. They are built exactly the same. On Thursday night we had a funky hat competition. I got 2nd place. The hat that won was a plunger that they wrapped in duct tape and put beanie babies on. I call mine, "Pippie Longstocking Gone Wild in the Kitchen" Hence the clown nose, hospital mask, orange cans spray painted, and such. It was a very good hat. We used an envelope, flipflops, 2 cans, poncho, safety goggles, clown nose, hospital mask, and spray paint. It was so much fun. I felt like Goofy though. haha. We had a camp fire on Friday night as a final thing to kinda say this is what we did, this is what I learned, and such. It was a wonderful time. Our speaker was Brian Ford from Interm Youth Ministries. He is a wonderful speaker. I was really able to enjoy listening to him. The first night he talked about giants and used David and Goliath for the example. He said about how things that get inbetween us and God are giants and that we need to surrender them to God so he can get them out of our way so we can become closer to him. He really hit home with everything he said. I asked him to clarify some things for me after the message. He had a sheet of paper to write our giants on and then we would burn them at the end of the week, well, I was able to put down a giant. It felt so good. At Roxbury the following week I was able to fully surrender the hurt to God and I feel so free. I haven't felt this good in a year. That's how long it's been. A long year of hurt, and just a horrible feeling of not being accepted in my youth group because of how someone treated me and now, it's gone. I feel as though I can get my feet in the door of that person's life and show that person the true me... the me that doesn't want to hurt. It was a real eye opener. I don't remember what his other messages are about, in order to know I would have to find my notes, but I do remember about facing your giants and charging through obstacles. I had a wonderful time and it was a great growing experience. I praise God for the opportunity to go and learn and be open to him.

Happy Birthday to Me

Well, I think it only fair to inform you all that I was not alerted of my position of "Blog Keeper-Upper", until yesterday. I am very excited to be doing this though. We had an eventful day today. We had my 15th birthday breakfast this morning at 7:30. Such an un-earthly hour for those of us like my sister who love to sleep in, but they did it for me. So sweet aren't they? Then a girl from our church came to spend the day with us. We did little miscellaneous things until 1:30 when we went to the barn to ride my recently acquired horse, Chaver. (Ha-v-ar) We rode until 3. I have come to the conclusion though, that I would not be a good person to be around if I had to give pony rides every single day. It's very exhausting. I took about 4 laps around the ring at a jog. This ring isn't very small either. Then I goofed off until 4 when I had to start the barn work. We were finished at 6:45 and then I went into my Grandparent's house to have them bring me in and stay for the party. We had both my grandparent's and my great grandparents too. I got to talk to two of my aunts too. It's been a very special day. Even if I did have to do school. Well, I better go. I'll have to keep updating this. Paste it on my forehead maybe. Ha ha.

Summer!

Wow...summer is going quickly, and I didn't realize how long it had been since I'd updated the blog. I think that when Abi gets home from her work camp, she'll be assigned the job of keeping this blog updated.

This week the girls are both away. One is at a youth camp and the other is at work camp. It's just the boys at home this week, and we're having a good time! Yesterday we went to Chuckie Cheese in Harrisburg and today we're going swimming. Tomorrow we're going to see Betsy at youth camp, so we're looking forward to that. I really should be doing up corn for the winter this week, but I miss my girls' help if I do that now.

We're also getting ready for our church camp at Roxbury Holiness Camp, Roxbury, PA. Steve helps the sound crew there, and I help the Program Director do some of her jobs. It's a week that our whole family looks forward to and enjoys very much. Come on over for a visit! The web address for the camp is www.roxburycamp.com.

Ball season was my last post. The boys team finished first in our league and third among the other leagues we played. Not bad! There was going to be a fall ball season, but it had to be canceled due to lack of interest. Many kids were already signed up in other sports. Ethan was really disappointed as he was looking forward to having more play time.

Guess that's about all for now. Check back later! Perhaps we'll have some pictures to post later of the girls' events of their week.

Baseball!

Yes, it's finally arrived...that moment you know when spring has officially arrived...it's the sound of the bat making contact with the baseball. We've been playing Little League for about 4 years now, and I can't imagine the day when the boys will be done playing. Our season started on April 14. Tonight the boys played hard and the game was called for darkness with a score of 10-10. Monday night, they beat out another home-town team in the 8th inning 4-3. Our Tiger team is playing hard and playing well together. I love to see the teamwork! I wish I had some pictures to post of the boys in their uniform. That will have to come later, I suppose. Steve and I were out of town for the opening day activities so I missed out on those pictures. The boys love to play ball, and they have some good friends as a result of their involvement in Little League. It's been a great experience for our family. So far, in our regular season, the boys have won 3 out of 4 games. Pretty good track record so far. We're proud of them!

Easter Surprises!

Easter this year was such a treat! We were together as a family...well...almost all together. On Sunday, I had 25+ people in my little 1,500 sq. ft. home. The biggest surprise that day was waking up to SNOW! We had a great time as a family. While I was wishing that my sister from Kentucky could be home, little did I know that she was on her way to PA. Monday night, we all got together again at my sister's house...and the next surprise (second one was being invited to my sister's house) was that Joanna was home from Kentuck! It was a "quick" visit with them as they went to their son's house to be with them, but especially to be with the grandbaby they have there. What a pleasant surprise it was to have them home. Hopefully, we'll see them next in June.

I don't know about anyone else who home schools, but I'm ready for school to be over! I'm ready for a 'vacation' from formal education.

Spring

How do I know spring has arrived? Well, the snow is gone, the robins have returned, the smell of earthiness is in the air, the birds sing gloriously in the morning...and baseball season has begun! Thankfully, the boys belong to the same team this year so our running will be at a minimum. Ben is enjoying his last year in Little League. He's growing up! Ethan really hopes to play pro-baseball one day. We'll see! If that is what he is to do with his life, then so be it. I guess there are worse occupations, right?! I'm thankful for two healthy boys who can run and play with friends. I am very blessed!

One snowy day...

Yesterday was nice and warm so we put up our spring flag in the front yard! Today it is snowing and snowing...the kids don't mind because it just means more sled time for them. The neighbor kids usually invite them over and they enjoy the time together. This has been a good packing snow, too.

I called my mom because she's always loved the snow. Steve threatened to throw a snowball at her if we were together! Mom can't see it snowing anymore because of diabetic retinopathy. It's really sad, but she enjoys just knowing it is snowing. She's an inspiration, that's for sure!

New life

Today a new little one was born in my extended family! Welcome to the world, Gideon Ray! So glad you could finally make your entrance into the world. You've got a special big brother, too.

I've been thinking about life...it's such a cycle, you know. We are born, we live for a few years or many years, and then we go on to the life hereafter. I think about my great-nieces and great-nephews being born, and it's bittersweet. I love holding them, playing with them, making them smile. It means, however, that I'm getting older (in years). It won't be too many more years before I'm the oldest generation in my family...and that makes me sad. However, this is what I've decided...I'm going to live life to the fullest. I'm going to laugh and love without abandon. I'm going to cherish the moments with family and friends.

Friday is coming!

Well, here we are...creating our first blog! You could say that we're finally breaking into the 'cool' world of blogging. Blogging...what does that make you think of? I think of trudging through muck! Hopefully you'll only get good stuff off this site. I'll probably get the kids to do updates, too.

So what does this all have to do with the title? Don't know...had to think of something! Thanks for stopping by...I really am glad tomorrow is Friday. I enjoy the end of the week.

Oh, yeah, I don't know if she'll ever find this, but if she does and happens to read this post...Happy Birthday, Tamara! I miss you! I always think of you on your birthday and remember our friendship with a smile.