Vacation 2010 Part 1 July 4th

We had a great time on vacation. We spent part of our time away with family in Sparta, TN and part of our time away in the Pigeon Forge area. We did lots of fun things together and took lots of pictures too....so I will only be posting a few at a time. We left IN on Saturday morning to go to Sparta. Sunday morning we went to church with Amanda. It was July 4th and her pastor delivered a message about Jesus dieing for us so we could be free. He did a real good job and several went to the alter that morning. Later that day we had a cook out (with lots of garden food....potatoes, corn on the cob, cucumbers and onions, etc. Mmmmmm) and spent time visiting with family. Then after it got dark we made smores and let off some fireworks. It was nice to get to spend time with everyone there. This is Gavin! He is such a cutie!

This is Stacy and her niece Alyssa. Alyssa sure is a beautiful little girl!

Beautiful Boo!!!! (with blue in her hair....lol)

Mr. Smiley....he just loves having his picture taken.....not!

Me and my dear husband.....he doesn't really like having his picture taken either....but he loves me....sooooo.......he does it for me. :)

Tonja and her lovely daughter Brittney.

This is my Aunt Debbie. She was so kind to let us stay with her while we were there.

My cousin Amanda....she seemed to be always happy.

Aunt Debs youngest daughter Echo....this is Alyssa's mom too.

Cody had a great time visiting everyone and playing with all the other kids. Andromida

This is EJ....Tonja's baby boy. I just loved his deep voice....he says the funniest things.

This is Stacy's youngest and he is not afraid to try anything. I'm sure he keeps Stacy on her toes.

Dymond and EJ....I don't really know what they were looking at.

Austin talking with Chase...Stacy's step son. He seems like a real nice kid. The guys all seemed to get along real well.

Tonja again

Stacy enjoying her corn on the cob....lol.

Stacy and a couple of the teens went to buy fireworks. We had a good time watching them go off after dark that night.

The kids played a lot of basketball while we were gone. We learned that Isabelle actually is pretty good at basketball. She played and played and made a lot of her shots. She was so proud of herself too.

Uncle Bruce played ball with the kids for quite a while....he thinks he's still young.....but we know the real truth.....lol.

Something about this just doesn't look fair. But then again he is old so maybe........he can out run Uncle Bruce.

The kids got tired of playing so much basketball....to the point I think they actually played duck, duck, goose for a game or two. They also played tag for a while too. Now we are not talking about just the little kids....these are teen age kids we are talking about. But we your in the middle of TN in the country....no body knows your playing kids games.....LOL.

Austin playing the limbo....another game they started playing because they were tired of basketball.

Cody hopping under the limbo stick like a rabbit. The kids were real good about playing together and when they got tired of one game they just thought of another game to play.

Sitting around the bon fire making smores.

Aunt Deb roasting her marshmallow for smores.

Raina eating her roasted marshmellow.

Isabelle waited for her daddy to make her smore for her. She sure does have a sweet daddy!!!

Cody doing sparklers...doesn't he look like he is having a great time..........lol. No really he did have a good time playing in circles with the sparklers.

Cool design with the sparklers!!!

Isabelle playing with her sparklers too!!!

She sure does love her daddy!

Hannah (Stacy's daughter) and Gavin (Amanda's son) watching the fireworks go off in the sky.

Me and my boy....

Well that is our first day in TN....in pictures. We had a lot of fun spending the day with family.
I will try to post more of our vacation soon..........

Up way to early....

Well here I am up way to early.....So I figured it has been a while since I've updated my blog.....What has been happening here. Well....rain, rain, rain! Our basement does not get water in it very often but it seems we could almost have a small wading pool here lately. (Actually it isn't quite that bad but has had water in it for days now.)


Austin has been doing great with his driving! Although there was a couple times he has scared us....like the time two police officers were walking across the street and he just kept going instead of stopping to let them cross. He said, "Well they shouldn't have been out in the road." Haha Or the time he comes home from drivers ed and tells me, "I pulled out in front of a semi today." The drivers ed teacher told him it was a good thing he had a break on his side. Haha But he really is doing a lot better and hasn't totally scared me to the point that I don't want to ride with him YET.


Janiece, Kathryn, and I went to the "Baxter Family Reunion" on June 22 and 23. This was a program put on by Karen Kingsbury. One of my favorite authors. The Baxter family is actually a fictional family from a series of books she has been writing for several years. The Redemption series, the First Born series, and the Sunrise series...this series of books follow "the Baxter Family" with trials and triumphs just like we experience in our lives. If you enjoy reading and have not read her books I encourage you to read them. But be sure you have some Kleenex with you... ;) Anyway, we had a good time shopping, visiting, and seeing Karen again.

Other then that our summer has been busy with everyday living. I've been happy to fill in for a friend of ours in her office a couple days a week this month. Went to Pilgram camp meeting a few times this past week. Taking Isabelle to library programs and piano practice. Taking Austin to drivers ed. Well you get the point doing a lot of running around....but such is life. I get tired but when I think about it someday my kids will be grown and won't need mommy to run them around. I sure will miss it then.

I am well aware that none of this makes sense but I couldn't sleep so ....I just thought I bless you with an update. Hope I didn't bore you too bad....

And We Lived To Tell About It!!!!

Okay so I know that some of you may let your kids drive before they are supposed to but I have chosen not to do that. Soooo today was the big day! We went out to the BMV to get his drivers permit and took a "practice" drive. Wow....a little scary! He didn't do a bad job just drove a little (a lot) closer to the right then I would have liked and wouldn't use his turning signal until he came to a complete stop to make a turn. I'm sure I made him nervous because I'm not real good at riding with people anyway (just ask Janiece about my passenger side brake lol).

He drives with his instructor on Monday and I'm sure he will have way more patience then I will in teaching him. I'm so glad that he will have to drive with an adult for a year before he will be able to drive on his own. I think with more practice and instruction kids do a better job rather then just turning them loose with this flying bullet.

The instructor told us last night that more sixteen year old kids die every year in America from car wrecks then we (Americans) have lost total in the Iraq war. There has been over five thousand American soldiers die in the Iraq war so far and six thousand teens die EVERY YEAR in America from car wrecks. Puts driving all in perspective that is for sure. It almost scared me enough that I was ready to tell my kid "we are out of here". :-)

They also showed them a true story video of a car wreck involving teens that were not wearing their seat belts and two of them died. I thought "I'm going to be the only parent that is sitting here crying" it was so sad to see this girl that still had so much life to live. Yet her life ended so young. You can watch it at... http://journeysafe.com/video/?v=6584076

Anyway my boy is growing up to fast and we now need to stay off the sidewalks. :-) No really we are excited about him learning how to drive safe. I pray that he isn't one of these kids that think it's cool to show off and be stupid.

Memorial Day 2010

In memory of you:

"I knew you before I formed you in your mother's womb...." Jeremiah 1: 5

"You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb." Psalm 139:13

Although it seems that others don't remember or maybe never knew of you I think of you often. I carried you in my womb for four months but I never got to hold you in my arms, never got to hear your voice, never got to calm your cries, never got to see you crawl or learn to walk, never got to kiss a boo boo or help you while your sick and I miss you so much. It has been almost nine years but the memory of you never ever goes away. I often wonder which of us you would have looked the most like, what your personality would have been like, even whether you would have been a boy or a girl (although my gut feeling is that you were our son). Would you have been our singer, our artist, or maybe our scholar. I guess we will never know. But what I do know is that we would have loved you so much and I sometimes don't understand why you were not able to be with us here. But I know you are safe in the arms of Jesus. We could have never loved you or cared for you more then He does and that brings so us much comfort. At times it even brings me comfort to know that you didn't have to experience some of what this world has to offer. You got to go to Heaven without experiencing grief, saddness, and heart ache.

What will it be like when we get to Heaven and all be together again. I just can hardly wait to see Jesus face and your sweet face. What a day that will be!!!

Belle's First Piano Recital

We are so proud of Isabelle and her desire to learn to play the piano. She is just beginning and has been doing real well. Her teacher Mrs. Johnson is super nice and I'm sure she is real patient with our little "angel". I appreciate her and am truly excited that she is helping Isabelle learn something I could never teach her. Here are a few pictures of her recital. Mrs. Johnson and Mrs. Fry with their students
Mrs. Johnson with her students: Anna Watson, Alyssa Johnson,
Shaylee Johnson, Mrs. Johnson, Isabelle, and Hannah Grey

My goofy girl.

So proud of our baby girl.

Whoo Hooo Garden is in for 2010

Well we have our garden planted for this year. Excited to see how we do. We planted some new things we haven't planted before and some of the old that we just "can't" live without. :0) Our garden is something we enjoy doing every year and can't wait for the produce.

This year we planted: Better Boy Tomatoes, spinach, bell pepper, peppercini (sp), lettuce, onion, jalapeno peppers, Brussels sprouts, corn, cabbage, cucumber, zucchini, yellow tomatoes, and we already had strawberries and rhubarb planted. Our garden space isn't very big so I hope it's not too over crowded but I guess we will see how it goes. I will try to keep you updated......

It's in the Little Things....

It's in the little things that Matt does that he shows me he loves me. Doing the dishes for me, cooking something to eat, offering to watch the kids so I can do something. Others may enjoy big overpriced vacations and I'm sure they are nice but for me it's the little things that count. When my husband thinks of bringing me a drink just to be nice, going with me to the grocery store or better yet offering to go by himself so I don't have to get out, bringing me a new shirt just because he saw it and thought I would like it. It truly is in the little things that he lets me know how much he loves me. This week I was reminded again when I started a project in the bathroom and he finished it for me (until 2:00 a.m.). Also when I came in from school and on the table sat the beautiful bouquet of Lilacs. Every spring my dear husband brings in a vase of Lilacs just to show me how much he cares for me. I appreciate that he is sooo thoughtful and I sometimes feel bad because I don't feel like I'm near as thoughtful as he. It truly, truly is the little things that matter most to me. Thank you Matt for all you do....I love you and you mean everything to me.

New look...Great Taste

For a while now I've been telling Matt I would like to do our bedroom in black and white with red accents. However, I don't like to spend money on myself and definitely when it isn't a necessity. So...I wasn't going to spend the money on this project. But....Matt saw this bedding set at Wal-mart that was being clearanced. He kept telling me go look at it. If I want it I better get it. And if I don't hurry they will sell them all and I won't have it. But I still didn't' want to spend the money on it. So I didn't. One night I had somewhere to go and he couldn't go with me. For those of you who know us you know we don't do too many things separate. We are you usually together when we go somewhere. (Just the way we like it. lol) However, this does pose a problem when you are trying to buy surprise presents. So he took this opportunity while I was away to go and get my Valentines present. When I got home this beautiful bedroom set was sitting out for me to see. I just love it and can't wait to change our room. Still trying to decide on a shade of gray or a shade of yellow for the walls. So that project is not started yet. But I really love the bedding and I have a great decorator for my husband. He always does a good job helping me pick stuff out.


Check it out..... This is what I came home to. Isn't it just beautiful!!!

This is the bedding set we got.

Fast Forward:

Just one month later, March 16...my sister-in-law, Kristi, calls me and says, "Can you guys stop by later this week?" She goes on to say she has bought a black and white comforter for their new bedroom and wants a second opinion on whether the burnt orange she wants to go with it will look right. I tell her that we are changing our bedroom to black and white too. She says, "No way. I wanted to have blue and brown but didn't because I didn't want you and Matt to think we were copying you guys." I tell her I wouldn't have cared if she had. She goes on to tell me that she isn't sure she will like it because it has flowers in the pattern. I tell her ours does too. She says she got it at Wal-mart on sale and I tell her Matt did too. We are on to something here...lol. Then she asked if ours was Better Homes and Gardens....and low and behold it is. lol We got the exact same bedding. So funny she was trying to avoid copying our colors and totally picked out the exact same bedding that Matt had just bought me. Way too funny....either we both have really horrible taste or we both have really great taste. I choose, "We have great taste." It will be interesting to see the difference in how we each pull it all together.

Regional Student Convention 2010

That's my boy. I am soooo proud of him. Great job Austin!

Margret Coleman and Austin

Austin getting ready to in run 100 meter dash.

Austin and Dalton

Margret and Yajaira being silly. Their blowing Austin kisses.

Margret Coleman, Austin, and Yajaira Baltierra again.

Me and the girls. Yajaira, Me, Janiece Cooper, Melissa Watson, and Britnee Derscheid

These girls were so kind to share their room with me this week. We had a lot of fun. And I am so proud of them.

What a great week we've just experienced. We (Austin and I) spent the week at Ball State University with Frankfort Covenant Academy and four or five other ACE schools. We had so much fun this week at the Regional Student Convention. They had 97 entries in the 52 events they signed up for. And the kids brought home medals in at least 40 different events. They worked real hard all school year to be successful this year and they sure pulled it off. I am so proud of each one of them. As our students would go up to receive their medals I would tear up almost every time. I sit there thinking, "Man, I'm a big baby." But that is okay I'm just real proud of our students.
Specifically I'm proud of MY student. Austin expanded his horizons a little this year and entered in woodworking, basketball, 100 meter dash, and the small ensemble. He also entered five photos...color still life, B + W still life, B + W scenic, Color scenic, and color plants. And I think Mr. Coleman even made him enter the Bible Bowl but not real sure on that yet. He brought home FIRST PLACE with his Color still life photo, and SECOND PLACE with the small ensemble, and FOURTH PLACE with the basketball team. We are so proud of him and ALL of his hard work. At this rate as he keeps building confidence and working hard at his entries he will get better and better every year. I truly is exciting to watch Austin and all the other student grow in confidence and skill. GREAT JOB AUSTIN...WE LOVE YOU!!!

Sledding at TPA

Isabelle and I had so much fun sledding with Kristi and the kids today at TPA park. Each year we look forward to going out there and sledding so when Kris called today to ask if we wanted to go there wasn't a question in my mind. Of course we wanted to go....that is part of the fun of living in IN and we always want to be a part of the fun. Anyway for the most part all was well but there was a few "spills". Mikhi did a flip or two and got ran over like a bowling pin by Mason. But the best fall of all had to be Kristi.....lol....she got ready to take a step forward and well.....down she went right to her back side. I should have said the Humpty Dumpty riddle to her but didn't think that was really good timing. No really it was funny but I hope she isn't hurting too bad tonight. Anyway you'll have to check out the picture of her at the top of this post. We had a great time together today....don't let this winter season pass without getting out and having some fun together yourselves. And have a very Merry Christmas this year too.....