Truman Lake with Kevin and Cory

In June of 2011, we got to spend the day with Kevin and Cory at their campsite at Truman Lake.  I was just 2 or 3 weeks out from having my left knee replaced, so this was my first BIG venture out!

After we met them at their campsite, we drove over to the dam to do some sight seeing.  Here, the guys are watching the BIG fish that live right below the dam.

Cory has a really nice camera that she bought while working for a professional photography firm, so she was trying to catch some good pictures of the fish and any other 'animals' or 'nature shots' she saw.

After some time spent at the visitor center/lookout above the dam we drove back to their camp for some rest time and a really great meal. It was a cool day, especially in the shade, and the camp was NOT full since it was early in the week.  We had a relaxing, enjoyable day!

Their screen tent over their table.

Kevin let me borrow his new chair that Cory had gotten him for Father's Day. It reclined a little or a lot, and I had a nice nap in it and rested my 'new knee' from all the walking activity at the dam.

Busy preparing dinner.

Kevin did the most of the cooking over the fire, and Cory prepared her part at the table, or in the trailer  It was VERY good!

One more photo from the State Fair

At the time this was taken, these three girls --Madison, Erika, and Emily-- were our youngest grand daughters.  This was right outside the Missouri Conservation display.  Everyone should have their picture taken on a giant frog...LOL!

Missouri State Fair visit 2011

Erika and Emily are talking with Otto the Talking Car at the Highway Patrol booth at the Highway Gardens.  we have been taking our kids and grandkids to see Otto since 1965.  Somehow, though, this was the first time these girls had gotten to meet him!

Looking at the bunnies that were being judged at the fair.  There were so many varieties and sizes and colors.  Karen and Madison thought they were so soft.  This man let them hold one of his bunnies.

Karen just had to pet one more bunny!

Emily is 'driving' this big truck.

Erika got in with her

This 'sculpture' is made out of all the different sizes of 'safety barrels' you may see around road construction areas. The girls thought he was pretty funny!

Grieving Over Things That YOU Can't Change...

If you have kids, you can probably relate to that title...maybe even if you don't have kids.

It just gets frustrating, sometimes, seeing your kids struggle with life issues and you can not FIX things for them.  If only they would learn to depend on HIS guidance and help!  Did they not notice the struggles their Dad and I  went through?  And how when we tried to "Do it ourselves" it was NEVER as good as when we relied on Him to provide for our needs.

When I look again at my title...I realize that I am still learning that lesson...AGAIN!   I cannot fix their needs, only God can!  But I can pray! Pray for the one who just lost his job, for the one whose children seem to be rejecting God and living  their lives for 'self', for the one who remains 'stuck' at his job instead of advancing, for the one who desperately needs to realize again that GOD LOVES HIM, for the one who is running away from what God has asked him to do/become, and the one who wants to serve the Lord but lets every excuse and reason take them 'off the path'.  I would LOVE to see my kids totally committed to God.  I MUST pray more for them!!!

Lord, help me 'get busy' with my prayer life!

I had a lot of other things to say when I started blogging today, but God has shown me during this process of putting words on the screen that He has things to say to me, and maybe through me.  Thank You, God!

Get Away Weekend

Three friends and I --we call ourselves The Fab Four-- have been going together to scrapbooking crops and other events for several years. We usually try to get together for a week end in Branson in the Spring, too.  This year, we didn't plan a Branson trip because we usually stay in condos where Ron and I are members, and this year we are using nearly all of our 'points' for a trip with our kids and their spouses to celebrate our 50th anniversary in August.  We were all 4 disappointed to not be able to go on our annual adventure/gab fest/relax together/ get away.
Melissa, an RN who works in hospice care, had to go to Springfield to take a state EXAM at the end of March.  It was for two or more days of testing so she was researching places to stay on one of those 'discount' internet sites and found a place with 2 beds, a couch that made a bed, and a kitchen for a 'reasonable' amount. She discussed it with Pansy and they decided to make a reservation for all of us on the weekend we would normally be going to Branson.  Then they talked to me, and I talked to Earline and we were ALL able to go on THAT weekend.  [I think it was "A GOD THING!"]  We had a really good time.  Melissa had to see an eye specialist the morning we left so her eyes were dilated the first day and she didn't feel the best for a while either.  We ate an early dinner at the Heritage cafeteria and then we went to see "The Lucky One" at the movie theater. [based on a Nicholas Sparks novel]  We loved it, and [based on the reaction from the rest of the audience] so will almost anyone! We made a trip by Target on our way back to the motel for some 'snacks' and other supplies and spent the rest of the evening 'catching up' with each other.
The next morning, after continental breakfast at the motel, we hauled our  scrapping stuff into the room and set it up for 'work'. Melissa knew she would be having trouble after her eye appointment so she picked up some plastic canvas, a needle, and some yarn when we went to Hobby Lobby the day before and worked on a project  [with lots of stops to rest her eyes] while the rest of us worked on our 'scrap' projects. We fixed huge sandwiches, and chips etc. for lunch and kept right on 'working' till around 2:30 P or so.  Then we took a break to go to Mardels Christian bookstore.  We could see Mardel's and Hobby Lobby from our front window as we were only a block off of Battlefield. We spent an enjoyable hour or two wandering around exploring that huge store!  Afterwards, we drove out to Cheddars restaurant for our dinner.  None of us had ever been to a Cheddars before, but I had been given a really great reccommendation for them from several friends so we decided to try them out We were all very impressed!  The food was great, ample portions, good variety on the menu, reasonable prices, and our waitress was excellent, too. We went back to our room and our 'projects' until about 10 P when we packed stuff away and headed to bed. 
Sunday morning we had the van packed up by 8:15A and ate breakfast, again, at the motel office.  The church we decided to visit was only 4 or 5 blocks away and they had a 9 AM 'traditional' service.  We were about 10 minutes early for the service, but we were made to feel very welcome with several people coming up to introduce themselves.  The service was very worshipful- the music was great-, and the sermon was lively and biblical.  All in all...a great experience.
After service, we headed back toward home with a stop in Buffalo for lunch buffet.

 It was a great time together!  Thank you Melissa for coming up with a plan for us to get together!

Time Marches on....

My goodness, I did not realize how LONG it had been since I last posted!

There have been some significant 'happenings' in our family in this past year.

In September, Melissa and Dillon became the parents of a baby girl -Scarlett Marie. She has beautiful dark brown eyes and LOTS of black hair. She is a very pleasant, happy baby!

Dakota--Kevin and Cory's youngest son-- was married in November, on 11/11/11 to be exact!. He married Kasey, a girl he dated off and on since they were in high school together. They chose to have a small 'family' wedding out by the pond at Kevin and Cory's house, followed by "Brunch" with those present. Early in December they had a reception at Kevin and Cory's with friends and other relatives attending.

We had a different sort of Thanksgiving with our kids this year, too. Kris and Karl had given 'gift certificates' to all of us on Christmas 2010 to the restaurant Karl works at hoping we could all have a special evening together. As November rolled around, we realized that we still had not been able to plan that time together. A suggestion was made that we could do that a little before Thanksgiving and then everyone could spend all of Thanksgiving day with their 'other' side of the family. We were able to work it all out and had a WONDERFUL time together! Karl works at an UPSCALE restaurant in Columbia---a very FINE dining establishment. Great food!

We had Christmas afternoon and evening at Karen and Chris house. It was a little crowded, but we had a great time together! It is always fun to see the little ones playing together, and the big guys had a good time 'playing' and singing together on the 'rock band' game they played on the TV. Our traditional Christmas meal is very 'non-traditional' to most people, but it is one we like. Everyone brings a part of it and we put it all out--meats, cheeses, crackers and chips, several kinds of dip, a 'relish' plate, and a veggie plate, etc , and any cookies/candy you want to contribute. People 'go back' any time, for more, as they want to go.

In late January, Dakota and Kasey became the parents of Mila Ann [say Me lah]- a beautiful blonde baby girl.
She has quite a bit of hair, too, but it was so blonde at first that it was hard to tell how much she had unless you were holding her. She is growing and meeting all of her 'milestones'---cooing and oohing-- and happy! So now, Kevin and Cory have 3 grand daughters, and we have 3 great grand daughters!

But I am not finished with the Birth Announcements. On February 27th, Kirk and Stacy became the parents of Charleigh Reese. She was born on her big brother- Bostin's- 10th birthday. He got to choose her middle name from a list of names they were considering. Emily- the big sister- will be 5 in May. Charleigh [say Char lee] has a lot of dark brown hair, but it seems to be getting lighter. She is a very pleasant, happy baby too. Already making 'O's with her mouth and smiling!

So, now we have 12 grandchildren! And, we don't expect there to be any more. Now we will just wait for more GREAT grands! --- but not for a while!! LOL

Thank You , God!

Missouri has had some trying days this week with weather! Thank you, Lord for keeping our family safe.
Last Sunday was our oldest grandson's wedding. It was a simple, but beautiful, wedding. Dillon and Melissa chose some really cool music. Nothing at all" traditional"! They are Beatles fans, so there was some of that [the parents and grandparents went down the aisle to "When I'm 64!"] and some other groups that I should remember the name but I can't. Mostly I liked it because it was SO THEM!
Good friends from Webb City, Missouri came to help with the wedding. Daryl officiated as minister, and his wife Karrie was the wedding co-ordinator. They were on their way home Sunday evening and learned that the Tornado had struck Joplin. Webb City is just North of Joplin. It took them a couple of hours to go the distance it usually takes 8 to 10 minutes to cover because they had to go back roads around road blocks, etc. to reach their home. They had no damage there, but Karrie works for the hospital that was NOT hit in the tornado, and I am sure she has had a busy week! Their son did not come to Sedalia with them, but he was safe, too.
On Tuesday we went to hear Erika sing in her talent show at Heber Hunt. She was beautiful and sang so sweetly!
Wednesday morning we were taking our time with breakfast, and thinking about what we might do for the day when Karen called to say that there was a tornado warning out for Sedalia and Pettis County. We decided that it would probably be prudent to get dressed and head for the basement. We changed the TV to a local station, grabbed the radio and our flashlights, and some batteries for back up, and our books :) as we headed down the stairs. Ended up spending the rest of the morning and almost all of the afternoon down there.
When the tornado hit the South edge of Sedalia, it was VERY close to the new high school. [Jacob , Karen's son, was at the high school.] Then it tore a path through a couple of trailer parks and a sub-division before lifting about a half block from the middle school.[ Madison, Karen's oldest daughter, was at the middle school.] If it had remained on that course, it is very likely that it would have hit the hospital area, too. It did come down Northeast of the Beaman community in Northeast Pettis county and tore up trees and out buildings.
There were no deaths, and only about 15, or so, people injured--with minor injuries. There is several million dollars of damage left behind, but everyone is SO thankful that there were no deaths or major injuries!
Just want to say, once again," Thank You, God!"

Happy Easter!

Wait...this is Good Friday...we should probably dis cuss what that means, first!

Erika said to me,"Why do they call it Good Friday! It was a BAD day 'cause Jesus died because of those mean people."
"Yes," I told her," but that is why it is GOOD Friday. Because Jesus died for our sins on that day. And, THAT is why it is Good. He died to take our place in punishment. Because He died we don't have to take the punishment for the BAD in our lives."
"Oh, so BAD was Good", she said, because it was a good thing for us!"

[I hope she gets it as well as I think she got it at that time!]

"Besides," I told her, "Jesus arose again in three days. That showed he had victory over death, and that is why we celebrate Easter."

So, let me say it once again... Happy Easter, everyone!

About time...

for Easter 2010! In fact, it is 5 days from now! We still have not 'made plans' for a family dinner and egg hunt. I had better get something done about it today!
I have been waiting for God to open 'communication' between me and some one again [see a previous post]. I t has been hard...but I have felt 'comfortable' for the most part. Not in a rush to push into anything. The reward came when I was approached for a 'hug', and a sincere look into my eyes and the words "I love You!" coming from both of us. There is still work to be done, but God is THE HEALER! Thank You, Lord! Amen

Easter Egg Hunt at Papaw and Nanny's 2010

This year the weather was warm and dry, and we were able to have our 'Hunt' outside!This is Dillon and his fiance` Melissa

Dillon is congratulating Bostin on finding so many eggs while Emily and Stacy look on.
Looks like Emily's bag is pretty full, too. Mommy helped her by carrying the bag and telling her " you might look...over there...I think I see something..." It is amazing the ones they find with no trouble...and then there are the ones they completely miss that they have almost stepped on!
Maggy and Danielle are looking through the flower bed. I think Maggy found the special egg that Papaw had put money in!
There are lots of "hidey holes" here for eggs. And a few were hiding in that front flower bed, too.
We always count the eggs before they are hidden, and then count each childs 'collection' so we know if they have all been found! Years ago, we didn't do that and there was a very 'stinky' egg hit by the mower several weeks afterwards! Also, we do hide a few 'real' eggs but most of them are the plastic kind filled with "goodies". I think everyone had a great time...either hunting or helping

Giving Advice...

...can be tricky sometimes. I try to be 'oh so careful', but occasionally some one gets their feelings hurt.
It has happened again recently. someone was posting a lot of things that not everyone needed to see or read. Matters that should have been kept private.
I prayed about it a LOT, and was so sure that I had a message for them that God, himself, had given to me to pass on to them.
It was NOT appreciated! In fact, I should have kept silent until God opened the door for me to deliver the message. I was SO EAGER to 'help God out' that I pried open a door that He was not ready to have opened, yet.

Will I ever learn???

2010 Easter Sunrise Breakfast and Service

Our church has a long standing tradition of having an Easter Sunrise service and a breakfast. For several years, two couples have gone together to fix the breakfast. They know exactly how to get it done and it is always good! Biscuits and gravy, scrambled eggs, fruit of various kinds, and sweet rolls. After breakfast is the service

Making the gravy

This pic was taken right at the end of the service outside. The sun is just starting to rise behind the tree line. The birds were singing their 'Morning song' and we began to celebrate the Risen Lord! "He is risen! He is risen indeed!!"

Life just keeps on happening!

How can it be that so many weeks have passed since I last posted?? You get busy for a couple of weeks... then you 'put off' taking the time to write...then you get even more 'busy'...then you're 'out of the habit'! sigh! So much for 'good intentions'!
We are all well...except for our usual aches and pains. Ron did have arthroscopic surgery the middle of October to 'clean up' his right knee. Doctor said there was very little arthritis in the joint, but that he did have a tear and some rough places in the miniscus in his knee joint. He has made agood recovery.
Cory had her left knee replaced on the 13th of October [same doctor], and she is also doing very well. About a a week and a half after her surgery though, she landed in the hospital with severe pain in her belly. After some tests, it was determined that her gall bladder was the culprit and so she had that out. She is recovering nicely with that, too. She also hopes she does not have to have any further surgery for a LONG time! Ron and I spent some time helping out with Maggy during this time, too. We kept her overnite a few times and took her/ picked her up for school several days, too. She is really loving kindergarten.
Karen had her yearly tests and checkup with her family doctor and oncologist, too. She is thrilled to report that she is still cancer free! We celebrated her 2 year 'cancer free' anniversary with her at a local Mexican restaurant on November 7th. Her oncologist sent her to a genetic specialist in St.Louis for a test to see if she carried the 'cancer gene'. That test result came back in the week before Thanksgiving: she is NEGATIVE! And again we say, "Praise the Lord!"
We are thankful for all of God's blessings during this past year...I have named just a few of them... and now we are looking forward to the celebration of Christmas!

Timber!!!!!!

These pictures loaded backwards to what I wanted them to load! So, start at the bottom and work UP to this one, please!
This last picture shows that they are almost through cutting up the tree. Afterwards they raked up a lot of the debris--wood chips and tiny broken branches, etc. While some were doing that, the owner brought out his stump grinder and set to work. The 2 stumps were ground into a pile of chips and sawdust. They went down several inches and ground up a lot of the roots, etc., too. It was really something to watch all of the process. We thought we would miss the tree, but really, we didn't miss it all that much. And we felt 'safer' because it was gone!
Now, they are getting down to the bigger parts of the tree. Some of the biggest pieces [and heaviest!] went onto a pickup one of the crew had there, but MOST of the wood went into the trailer.
Here is one of the crew loading up some of the 'brush'. When it looked to me that the trailer was getting pretty full, whoever was 'loading' would take a small chain saw down through the brush and cut it up some more. Then they would pile some more on ...and do the same thing again!
A lot of the leafy, smaller branches have already been cut up and loaded onto the trailer.hmmm! looks like we have the same picture--twice! GRRRRRRRRRR!

We had a big tree in our back yard last fall that needed to come down. It had several broken limbs and part of the trunk had been damaged. We had already asked this company to come and trim back some branches of our maple trees that were growing over the house. We liked how they worked [to please us!] and so we asked them to come back and take this tree down, too. To get to the tree we wanted down, they also had to take down a smaller tree that was right beside it. Here are both trees down and the crew is starting to cut them up into shorter logs for removal.

Bostin: FLAG FOOTBALL

We went to a couple of Bostin's games last year. Here he is after the game with his well-deserved drink! He did a pretty good job of HIKING the ball to the quarterback. He even ran the ball into the end zone once---but someone had captured his 'flag!

The next picture is of Emily in their garage at home. showing us how she could RIDE her bike.Bostin and Kirk after the game. It was a crisp, windy day. Thankfully the sun was shining!

Emily and her sunglasses. She was giving Stacy a hard time...trying to run out on the field. I think she finally got the idea that she would be in the way and MIGHT get run over!
I wonder if Bostin will play again this year? Emily goes to "Tumbling" class on Saturday mornings, now. Guess we will see how it all works out!

Their 25th anniversary!

I think this is a GREAT picture of Kevin and Cory!
Ron seems to be amused...probably at something Kevin was telling!
I think Ron took this picture of me that night.
Ron and I took Kevin and Cory to Independence last December to celebrate their 25th anniversary. Had a wonderful meal in an Italian style restaurant! Sorry, I can no longer remember the name---That happens when you wait too long to post these things. We thought about doing some 'shopping', but Cory was on crutches because she had injured her knee so we decided against it. We did drive through a couple of neighborhoods looking at the Christmas lights on our way back home. We had a really great time with lots of visiting and laughing!
[ I'm not sure why the picture of me loaded twice...but I could not seem to edit it out]

Can you belive it?

Just got my new Reader's Digest. An article in there is titled: How to SOUND Smarter. Covers a lot of the things [and more!] that I talked about in the last post.
There is a LOT of info in the article. Probably means I will have to read it several times for all of the information to even begin to soak into my brain!
I remember how my Mom was always LEARNING, up until shortly before she died at 97. She was a good example of how you can keep improving and growing as a person. One thing she never did learn: The difference between crotch and crouch when she was talking about pants. She ALWAYS said it CROUCH! Never could figure that one out. Love her and miss her, though.

Tricky words and spelling!

I probably notice these things more than a lot of people do...! But I've been noticing that there are a lot of tricky words that people have trouble with, and sometimes we stumble over the spelling of words, too.
Here are some examples: loose or lose? That belt is too loose, you'll lose your pants!
to, too, or two? I'm going to the store for two loaves of bread, do you want to come too?
bring or take? Will you bring me that list off of the fridge? I need to take it to the store with me.
There, their, or they're? They left their book over there on the table. Wonder when they're coming back?

There are several others, but you get the idea. Sometimes we have known which word to use in the past, but after seeing/hearing the wrong words used we get confused and can't decide which one is right!
I have a dear sister who always adds an extra' m' to coming. Another word that I see confusion over a lot is : congratulations. I think someone spelled it--conGRADulations for a card and somehow people began to believe that is how you should spell it.

Do you notice things like this too? Do you want to "help people out" when you do? Or, are you able to resist that temptation to constantly correct them?
BTW: I had to correct my spelling several times as I was typing this up!...My fingers hit too many keys sometimes, or the wrong key. Does that ever happen to you?

No pictures yet...

but need to post anyway!
Have you ever had friends that you were so 'close' to that even when you have not seen each other for a while...you just take up with each other like you saw them just yesterday???

That is how our friendship is with Glen and Linda W. We got to go see them in Indiana this past weekend. Had a great time laughing and talking together! Got to thinking though, that it had been close to eight years since we had been there. They were here to see us a few years ago, but we have not been there in...forever!
I sincerely hope we never have to wait that long again! Got to see Joe and Jean P. too. Fun to all go to dinner together and then to a southern gospel concert,too. We all went to church together on Sunday, and Ron and I saw several friends there that we had not seen in a long time either. This is the church we went to and worked for during the time Kirk and Karen were both born. A lot of faces were 'missing'...either moved away or passed away...but we were so pleased to see and worship with quite a few.
All in all it was a GREAT weekend!!!!

Found these old pics of Ron...

...And thought I would share them! Of course they loaded backwards to what I wanted them to load! So we'll start with the school picture first:

Not sure how old he was in this picture, but I'm guessing around 9 or 10. Can remember some of the boys looking a little like this at this age. Kirk's boy, Bostin, reminds me of this look, too.



These next two pics were probably taken at the place in Leavenworth Kansas where they lived for several years. They moved back to Kansas City for Ron to go to Northeast high school like his sister and brother did. Funny thing about this fact...My Mom and sisters all graduated from that same school, too. But by the time I was ready for high school they had built Van Horn high school. Even though my parents had not moved I was in the Van Horn district.
New suit?? And are those his Gym shoes, shirt and shots??
This picture was taken when Ron played in his first recital. I think his Mom made his 'tuxedo'. She was good at doing things like that! I think he was 4 or 5 here. Standing on their back steps. Kinda interesting to see her shadow on the steps and ground in front of him.
Been wanting to put these up for some time. Tried once and couldn't get the pictures to load. Kinda figured out what I must be doing wrong, so this time I got them to appear!
Hope you enjoy this trip down memory lane. I have lots more pics like this.