Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas & Happy New year to all of our family & Friends!!
Here are some of the events of the last year:
We are finally getting settled in to the house. We have done lots of remodeling since we moved in. (If you want to see there are pictures on our web-site.) We are at a point where things are comfortable and not cramped. We will still be working on some stuff but the big part is done.

Larry – Less than a month and he will be 13. Time sure does fly! He started at the High School this year (it is a 7- 12 high school) He made honor roll for the first time and was very excited. He had a great season with baseball, cross country, and is currently enjoying basketball and looking forward to swimming in a month or so. He really likes the high school. He says it makes the days go by faster. He went hunting with dad this year and on the first day of opening season he got a 7 point buck and a doe all by himself. He was very excited! He also got 2 more doe’s by the end of the 2-week season. I think that was the highlight of things for him!

Nicole – I think she has gone through the most changes this past year. She turned 16 this year. She got herself a job at the local McDonald’s, and she bought herself a car. She is very proud of the fact that she has done most of it on her own. She was in a couple of plays at school and is already looking forward to the one coming up this spring. She is working hard to keep her straight A’s. She has a big class load. She has gotten a few invites to tour some local colleges so I am sure that will become our next adventure.

Paul & Dian – Still working hard with the business. We have been blessed with the way the economy is we have not suffered. God is always good and faithful. He meets our needs. Dian has been substitute teaching a lot this year. Other than that it has all been about the kids and their activities.

God has truly taken care of us and met all of our needs over the past year and we know that he will continue to do so. He is an awesome and wonderful God! Our prayer for all of you is that you will have a very blessed year.

Take care and may God Bless you all!!
Love,
Paul, Dian, Nicole, & Larry

New blog for a friend

Hello everyone. I have a friend who just started writing a story on a blog. If you have time to check it out I know she would like your imput. Her Blog address is www.sidewalksandpathways.blogspot.com it is also listed in my favorites.

Take care & God Bless!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Hello there everyone! I hope that you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving! God Bless!!

New Car!

Well the search is finally over. We finally found an affordable car for Nicole. Now that she is working is will make it easier for her. We spent a few hours today cleaning it up but she was excited about it. It is a Black 2001 Saturn S1. I was teasing her about it being a manual car and that she has been spoiled by my car. Manual windows, locks, and even the mirror has to be manually adjusted for bright lights... ooo my!! HAHA just kidding It has an automatic transmission though which she is thankful for. The best thing is she was able to put over half of it down and borrowed the rest from us and will get it paid off quickly. She is very proud of that fact and that she is doing it herself.

Take care & God Bless!!

Turkey Day

Well before we know it Thanksgiving will be here. Less then a week away. Families will be getting together and enjoying time together. I am sure there will be lots of laughing, and some crying. This year will be no different for us. We will be getting together with Paul's family like we have done every year since I became a part of this family. My sister will be coming to join us this year with her two girls, which I am so thankful for. I have never had a thanksgiving with her or any holiday for that matter so I am very excited about it.

I just want to take a moment to ask something of everyone out there that should read this. ( I know the numbers are small but you can pass the word!)

As this Holiday season is here and we are all enjoying our time with others and our families, don't forget about all of those that will not be home with their families. At the Veterans program the other day at my kids high school one of the girls read a story. It touched me and will be something I will be doing this year. I will probably have tears (which if you know me does not take much to do anyway!) but I am going to do it. I had tears trying to tell Paul about it. I have tears now just thinking about it My kids and I were talking about it a couple of nights ago and they agree we need to do it and that it is a cool idea.

The story went like this....

A soldier had set the table for a friend of his that was out in the field. He waited and waited for his friend to come back from his mission. He did not return. He was killed in action while out on patrol. After awhile, one of his fellow soldiers asked him if he was going to clean the dishes up. He stated that he was not going to and proceeded to eat his dinner. He stated that he would not take away the dishes because he was not going to forget the soldier that was suppose to be there eating with him. They asked that as we all sit down for our thanksgiving dinner this year, (and all the rest) that we set an extra plate. A plate to represent all those soldiers that will not be home with their families this holiday season and for those that will never make it home for another meal. Let those around you know that these soldiers are not forgotten, nor will they ever be!

Also. if you know a soldier's family that will be home alone without their soldier this year, make sure you tell them thank you. They are sacrificing so much for all of us.


Thank you all who serve! No words can or will ever express how thankful I am to know so many service members. Some in my own family, and I am very proud of all of them.

Take care & God Bless you all!

Working World..........

Well the play is finished now (you can see pictures on Nicole's facebook) so true to her word she went and got a job. She wants a car and has a little saved up but we have told her that is she wants a car she will have to get a job to help pay for it. Well last week we spent a couple of days going around collecting resumes and she filled them out and turned them in. Everyone was pretty much saying that they were not hiring right now but they would put her application on file. A lot of them only do the applications on-line anymore, which surprised me. As a manager I wanted to see who was turning them in so that I could get a first impression, not nowadays. Also she was told be several other that jobs are to scarce right now with the economy and adults would be given priority, especially in a small town like Greencastle........ But God!!!

God can do anything.

I must admit that I was not sure that I wanted her to get a job. I have been looking for the cheapest car that would be decent that I could find. (Not having much luck in the finding a car department right now but that is another story!) I did not want her grades to suffer since she is a straight A student and she will need those grades to hopefully get some scholarships to go to school. On the other hand I know that she has seen so much in her life already and in some ways ha been so protected from the real world. So I want her to learn how real life works as well. I know I learned so much when I started at Taco Bell when I was 15 and I can look back to those days and honestly say that those are some of the best days that I had in any job that I have ever had. You learn so much and it is a taste of the real world. I told her that her best bet at finding a job right now would be a fast food restaurant since they have the most turn around and are usually the ones willing to hire with little or no experience.

Anyway we went to visit a different church this last Sunday, (yes we are still in the church hopping mode and it is long, long, overdo. Did I say long? That is an understatement.!! Again another story later!) So we go visit this church and meet a few people like normal. Well one of the people we meet is the head manager of the local McDonald's. When he said that we laughed because that was one of the places Nicole had applied. He gave us a funny look and we explained to him that she had just applied on-line there last week. He looks at us and says "Really? What time do you get out of school tomorrow?" Nicole told him and he says, "Come see me tomorrow right after school." Were like ok. So she goes in today after school to talk to him. They talk a little while and he comes over and talks with me to let me know that she starts Friday for orientation and will have a schedule before she leaves Friday. She was very excited! She had tried so hard over the summer and had no luck anywhere. And now she walks in to church and meets the one person that can give her a job. So we spent the whole night looking at cars. She is nervous but very excited.

See God works even in the small things. Not only is he a Christian, but several others that work there are as well. Not all but a few. That is what she is excited about the most. She will be working for a Christian boss. Not only that but her manager that she will be working with the most is also a christian. She says she is nervous but excited. I know that she will do good and they are willing to be very flexible. That is also a good thing. I will keep you all up to date on how things are going.

So if you are in Greencastle, stop by the local McDonald's you might just see her there!

Take care & God Bless!

1st Deer

Hunter Larry & his deer

Well most of you probably do not know this but today is the first day of deer hunting. For two weeks it is legal to hunt deer out here. Last year Paul and Larry went and Paul got a small one. Well Larry wanted to go this year and try to get one of his own. After almost 12 hours outside in the very cold weather Larry got his first deer. Well make that 2 deer. Needless to say he was very excited and happy when they came in after dark to get the tractor to go claim them. Paul got one small one but both of Larry's are quite a bit bigger. I am adding some pictures however you can't really tell a difference on size since Paul's is separate from Larry's. Larry got a doe and a 7 point buck. You can see the antlers in the pictures. Needless to say he was very excited! Don't feel to bad about them being out in the cold they built a custom deer stand with windows and a door and a roof. They also have a heater out there. Actually they have 2 now. When they were heading back to the house for lunch I was in town (yes we have to actually go to town, we live in the middle of nowhere lol) Paul called me and asked me to go get a bigger heater. So they may have been ruffing it but not to bad.

I hope all of you have had a wonderful weekend. Take care God Bless!

Larry & his 6 point buck & doe

Paul's little Buck

THANKS VETS!

Don't forget that today is Veterans Day. Take a moment to tell them thanks! I know I appriciate everyhing that they did as well as the ones currently serving. Above is a picture of Paul's Great Aunt who served in WWII. And yes that is the same uniform that she wore back then! She will be 91 in January. I called her this morning to see if she wanted a ride to the veteran's day program and she told me no she could drive herself. She is still very independent! Below is an essay that Larry wrote about her for his English class. I have never seen him so excited to write a paper! It was for a contest that all the teachers voted on. He came in third which is an amazing thing on it's own since english is his worst subject. I have to give his teacher a lot of credit he is an awesome teacher!

Take care & God Bless!!

The person I admire the most is my Aunt Helen Hurst. She is 90 years old and has been volunteering since high school. Her hobby in high school was finding little birds that had either fallen out of a nest or were hurt. She would take the birds home, feed them, and take care of them until they were feeling better and able to survive on their own.
She went to school to be a doctor. In 1939, when she was still in nurses training, she joined the Red Cross. Then, the Kentucky River flooded and their family, along with others, felt the need to help. During the rescue and recovery process many of the family members kept only what clothes they really needed and gave the rest to the flood victims.
Then, Aunt Helen volunteered to join the army during World War II. She was in the army for five years, stationed in many different countries, during which time she was responsible for setting up two camps. The first camp she setup is one of the largest camps in the United States today.
Aunt Helen also setup a general hospital that was used for regular injuries where people received treatment, had surgeries, and were recovering long term. She also setup a station hospital, which was used for emergencies and to get a patient stable before transferring them to a general hospital. She also setup a field hospital, which was used to treat any injury that needed to be treated quickly. These hospitals were located in the middle of the war itself.
One experience she told me about was when she was made supervisor in a camp that held and treated German people. One guy in there was dying of cancer and his one wish was that he wanted a Hershey’s candy bar. The Americans decided not to give him one because they did not know how many American people the guy had wounded or killed. She agreed with them.
She has also volunteered locally. My Aunt Helen has started a clothes center at a senior center, and has volunteered with the Red Cross for sixty years. She retired in 2005, but still finds herself volunteering as needed, doing small projects. Since then, she has volunteered at the county fair and state fair.
She has also done a lot of volunteer work as a nurse at the old Reelesville High School. She told me that while she was a nurse, she would keep clean pairs of clothes for some children and when they got there, they would change into them. Then at the end of the day, they would put their dirty clothes back on.
I admire her because she has been doing a lot of good things for people all her life. She tells things like they are and she is always willing to give people a chance. She has also changed a lot of people’s lives. One day, I hope to be able to help people the way she has helped others.

Come to me like little children........

Those words that Jesus spoke rang out to me over and over this afternoon. We were at church today and it was so neat. Tomorrow is the 98th anniversary for the church building. That itself is a pretty awesome thing that the building is that old, let alone that the "church family" has been around together for almost 169 years. They were announcing members that had been there for over 50 years, I could not imagine being in the same house for 50 years let alone the same church building. It was very neat to see how many there were.

However what caught my attention the most and what I have thought about the most today was the little boy that sat next to me today. He was probably 3 years old. He was sitting on his dad's lap and as they passed the communion he wrestled his dad to grab a piece of bread. I kind of chuckled to my self because it was so cute. I can remember my kids doing the same thing when they were little. As the juice was passed I saw his dad hold both of his arms in one hand and lifted the juice high above the little boy to make sure he would not be able to grad hold and make a mess. His grandma who was sitting between us just gave me a shy smile and was almost apologetic. I wanted to tell her that it was ok and that he made me laugh. I will probably share this with her next week since today we were in a big hurry to get out and head to Nicole's play.

So I sat there praying before we took the juice in unison and all I could think about was that little boy, and those famous words Jesus spoke in Mark Ch 10 versed 14 & 15, "Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein." (KJV)

I thought how many times do I go to Jesus as an adult worried that what I will or will not do may or may not be appropriate. When what I should be doing, is be like that little boy and just reach and wrestle with all my might to get that little touch of God. I mean isn't that what the bread represents, the body of Christ, our Savior! There should be nothing in this world that should stop us from getting that little piece of him, even if it is something that is not "politically" correct or accepted!

Think about that, and I pray that you will all be like little children and wrestle your way to get your little piece of our Lord and Savior! By the way the little boy succeeded in getting the bread as I will continue to do each and every day!

May God Bless you all and your families!

History is made.....

Well it is all officially over. I for one am very thankful that there will be no more ad's on TV for any politicians that are hoping to retain their seat or those hoping to win a new seat.

No matter how you voted, last night was a HUGE day for America. History was made and things will never be the same. So many people gave up so much of their lives so that one day America could truly be the "Land of the Free". For so many years America has been known as the "Land of Opportunity" from all over the world. Last night proved that. Who would have thought that an African-American who was basically an unknown to most people a couple of years ago would now be the one to lead this country in a time of so much trouble.

Granted, after September 11, 2001 life for all Americans changed. Where our economy is today is where most Americans expected it to be back then, not 7 years later. No matter who would have won this election they would have had a lot of work to do to build up the moral of the American people. Hopefully, that will happen.

A comment was made this morning by someone I know that "God's will was not done". May I remind everyone that if you prayed, and sought God for guidance before you voted, then do not second guess yourself or God. If you truly prayed for God's will to be done - then do not question him. Even if you did not pray for God's will to be done - there were millions of Christians that were praying for God's will to be done. DO NOT QUESTION GOD'S WILL! even Hitler had his place in God's will. It is not for us to judge.

The Bible states throughout that we are to pray for our leaders and to support them and to even submit to their authority as long as it does not go against God. The best thing that we can do is to pray for our new President Elect so that he can carry out the will of God.

Also remember to pray for the whole government because one man can not change things on his own. Pray for them all!!

Also make sure you talk to your kids about this historical event. This is something that they will remember for the rest of their lives. Something that they will be telling their children, and grandchildren about for years to come. - unless God decides to send his son back to get us before then. :O)


Take care & God Bless you and your family!

GO VOTE!!

Just a quick reminder that you all need to go vote tomorrow!! It is our duty as Americans that our voice is heard. So if you have not voted yet

GO VOTE!!!!!

Report Card Time

Well today was report card day. The end of the first quarter. For the first time ever Larry made Honor Roll. He missed all A's by 1 B. They have also been having tryouts for the basketball team and he found out today he made the team. So over all he had a very good day!

Nicole had all A's. Which considering her class load was pretty cool. So that along with getting her license today she had a pretty good day as well. I am glad I decided to take them to Beef and Boards on Thursday since they are out of school Thurs & Fri. Now we have lots of things to celebrate. Now I am sure she will want to start looking for a car. All in due time!

I hope all of you and your families had a wonderful day as well!

Take care & God Bless!!

Watch out on the roads!!

Well it is official. Nicole is an official driver now. She went and took her drivers test today and passed first time. I asked her if she felt any different. "Nope" so now the fun begins. Well actually things won't change a whole lot until we are secure enough for her to go on her own. Just wait all of you, your turn will be coming before you know it. Overall she is a really good driver. She is looking forward to being able to go to play practice and all that fun stuff on her own. We will just have to wait and see. I know that we will have to let her at some point but there is not point in rushing it. At least school is only about 3 minutes away that helps! I tell her it is not her that we worry about it is everyone else. But it will be nice to have something else to hold over her head!

Take care & God Bless!

Getting with the times.....

Ok so here we go. We are getting with the program and now have "texting". If you do not know what texting is it is where you can "type" a message with your cell phone and send it to someone like an instant message. There have been so many times where I have needed to get a hold of Paul for something little but important and he does not answer his phone. (I know all of you ladies have no idea what I am talking about because all of your husbands answer their phones when you call them I am sure!) Or the kids go somewhere and all I want is a simple phone call to know that they got there and everything is good. (Sorry I am an overprotective parent! They will tell you that I am as well!) Anyway we made some changes with our cell phone plan so we added that to all of our phones for next to nothing. So we are officially a part of the "texting" world. So if any of you "text" let me know I know my kids are very excited about this new feature. My theory is that now they have absolutely no excuse to not get a hold of me. Plus they can text their friends without it being long distance or costing minutes.

Another thing we have done is added satellite TV. Where we live when the new changes happen in Feb. we will not have any TV. We tried the converter box but that eliminated all of the stations except 3. Needless to say 2 of them do not even carry anything decent. So we cut everything off our phone, went to an answering machine and added basic satellite. Just so the kids can watch their smallville and we can still see our desperate housewives and greys anatomy.

Technology - it is unreal how quickly things can change around you and you not even notice. I can't wait to see what happens in another 10 years. Now we just have to figure out DVR is and how to operate it. Paul has problems with the current remote I can't wait until wed when we get the new one.

Take care & God Bless!!

One finished...One beginning...

Ok so I deleted all of my old blogs a few weeks ago. Kind of out of frustration more then anything. It seemed that things were just to negative and I do not like negative things. I was trying to decide if I was even going to do it any more when a friend of mine (you know who you are) asked me about it. She said she missed it and enjoyed reading it. She thought it was funny. I am glad my misery brings happiness to others! :O) So here we go again. I am going to focus more on the positive things and not the negative things! Not to say there won't be some negative stuff now and then because sometimes you just have to vent!

Well we finished up Cross Country this past weekend. We had the County meet and then we had the conference meet. Larry did well in both. In the County meet he finished 12th but he got a new time 12:56 that was his second best the whole season. There were 44 boys in this race. He had one that was 12:38 but we figured that everything must have been absolutly perfect that day. For the conference meet he finished 24th with a finish time of 13:03. There were about 62 kids in this meet just for the boys. He finished third for our school all season long. Every meet. However he improved his time almost every meet. Next week basketball tryouts start so we will only have this week for a break.

Nicole is working hard on the play we built the set a couple of days ago and it looks really cute. They are all getting so excited. Before we know it it will be here. She is thinking about being manager for the swimming team which will be good for her. She is not big on the actual swimming part but I think she will enjoy helping out still.

End of the semester is tomorrow which they are both ready for. They just added to the school web page a program where we can go see their grades this week. Both of them are looking pretty good. For those of you struggling with elementary school stuff have faith that Jr/Sr high will be better. Larry is 1 B away from straight A honor roll - which this is the first time every he will make honor roll. Nicole is all A's as well as of right now. Which is amazing with her class load. For once I think report card time will be good for all with no tears of frustration!

Anyway that is it for now. I hope everyone else is doing well. Take care & God Bless!!

New Blog...

Ok I have added a new blog. It is going to only be receipe's. I have had several that have asked me for a few of mine and I have several really quick and easy ones that I have collected over the years. So if you are interested in checking it out go to

http://receipesharing.blogspot.com

If you have a receipe that you would like to add send it to me and I will add it.

ELECTION.............

I am not sure if anyone else feels this way or not, however since this is my blog and these are my thoughts I guess I get to vent a little. So if you don't want to know what I think about the upcoming election then stop reading now.

First off I still have no idea who I am going to vote for and I am not trying to endorse any candidate. As a matter of fact if you do not do your own research on each candidate yourself and pray about it and ask for God's help in making the decision then you should not even vote! I am sick and tired of getting the thousands of e-mails that tell me what a horrible person Obama is or how McCain is lying about this or that. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!!

I am an adult and this is NOT my first election. I know how the process works and I do not need the 50 e-mails every day to try and pursued me to vote for "their" candidate. Last I knew it was still a free country and it was nobodies business who I vote for nor is it any of my business who you vote for.

I am sick of all the "debates" which are suppose to help us know more about each candidate, and where they stand on issues. All I seem to hear them saying is what their opponent is doing or not doing while they (both sides) twist and tweek things just a little for their favor. I am very glad that the news people are finally starting to check the facts on things both candidates are saying in these debates.

I want a President who will be honest and upfront about things - good or bad - just do not lie or stretch the truth. As a small business owner, parent of school age children, a small farm owner and American citizen we seem to keep getting hit with one tax after another. It is getting very frustrating. Our business gets hit with this tax and that tax and I think we are at the point that we pay the government more then we pay ourselves. Where is the American dream in that? We have prided ourselves is helping others when others would not only to get a new tax bill in the mail which over the last couple of years has forced us to raise our prices in order to pay Uncle Sam his.

I have several family members, including a brother and brother in law, who serve our country and fight for our freedom each and every day. (that is where the name for the blog came from) What do they get in return? They get little pay, lots of time away from their family and miss out on so many important and wonderful things with their families. They rarely get thanked or even a tiny bit of recognition for what they do....All for me and you and every other American in this country. It is unfortunate that my brothers are on opposite ends of the country (1 in CA 1 in IRAQ via NC) with their families. Most of you know that I am not real close with most of my family but my love and respect for them - regardless of family standing - is more then I can put into words. I so wish that we were closer in every sense of the word! My children have been brought up with the love and respect of the military and the sacrifice that they make without really knowing either one of their uncles. My husband told me the other day that the Flag did not mean nearly as much to him before we got married and saw how much it meant to me and my family. I was asked the other day how I would feel if one of my kids were in the military. My response is that I would love them all the more for the sacrifice that they would be giving and I would be so proud of them. (I would be equally proud of them not matter what they did.) I fully believe that no matter what your views are on the war you DO NOT abandon the soldier under any circumstances.

So if you are still reading this you are probably wondering ok I thought this was about the upcoming election. Well our military personnel will be affected by this upcoming election as well. There has been so much talk about the economy that our military, it seems, has been forgotten. Please do not forget them.

Also as far as who is a Christian (Muslim or not??) and who is not - just remember that Jesus dies on the cross for all of us. God sent his one and only son for us. Is Obama really a Christian - that is between him & God. All I know is that I have done so many things in my life that anyone from the outside looking in at who I use to be would say how dare I say that I am a Christian. However anyone that knows me now would not question my faith or that I am a Christian. I pray that no one passes judgement on you the way that others pass judgement on the candidates because of rumors or past events. That is where the BLOOD comes into play - he washed us white as snow and removes all of our sin, if we confess that Jesus Christ is the son of the living God - our Lord & Savior.

There are pro's and con's for both of the candidates. However as a Christian I will not pass along any thing about Obama being Muslim when he professes to be a Christian. And the truth of the matter is that most of the Muslims in this country want the same thing that Americans want peace. Actions speak louder then words. Watch, listen to what is said, and pray that God will have His way on Nov. 4th. No matter who that may be.

The only reason that I even mention this is because this is the biggest debate thing on the e-mail's that I receive. I am not endorsing him in any way. Just remember that he may be telling the truth that he is a Born again Christian. As a Christian that is not a judgement call that I am not willing to make - because it is not one I would want others to make of me!

Take care & may God Bless you all and your families.

May God's will be done on Nov. 4th