Growing Childern on the Farm

Just HAD to post about this!

2009-07-07T09:42:00.000-07:00

If you are not accquainted with our family or our lives you may not understand the import of this event in our lives. You may continue to read if you wish. I just wanted to give you fair warning to bail if you want.

This has been a truly amazing few days for our family. Sunday we had a wonderful meeting in Delta. A young lady who has been going to church with us for about 3 years gave her hand to be babtized after church. After speaking with her mom (who lives in Denver), she asked that we wait until 7pm so that her mom could drive over to be here for it. Her family is not in the faith, but her mom made the drive and was very happy to see this all take place. Afterward, Glenn & Diannes son Mathew gave his hand to Bro. Darrell E. Then a bit later Mandy S. asked Bro. Glenn, then shortly after Glenn's oldest son Raymond asked his Dad to babtize him. So we had a Sunday of great rejoicing.

Yesterday was my birthday. We had an ordinance supper in the new Delta building. Its not quite done, but should be soon. We had a huge crowd, as most of the Delta and Montrose brethern showed up. Truly a very spiritual supper.

Following the double ring greeting my oldest son Tyler gave his hand to be babtized. WOW!!!
I was completely thrilled. Uncle Ray Bellew babtized him at 10:30 last night. I could not have dreamed of a more perfect birthday present. Just wanted to share with you all. I know we all wonder if our childern are understanding anything we are trying to teach them. It is nice to have evidence of your teachings be manifested to you.

I don't think I will be posting much anymore. Our lives have seem to have moved into hyperdrive. I start each day with a list a mile long of all that must be accomplished and rarely do I get it all done. So I am going to try to focus more and play less. I love you all.

Countdown to OREGON

2009-06-05T06:37:00.000-07:00

The kids and I are leaving for Oregon next Thursday!! Whoot Whoot! Can you tell I am a little bit excited. Family reunion time is here. It is going to be so awesome to see all your smiling faces once again. On the 13th Shae & I will be attending the homeschool exhibit at the Oregon Convention Center. Rosalie has graciously agreed to take the kids to the zoo. So Yay! A day with Shae. I wish we could stay out for a couple of week and go to Oly and Brewster also but, alas my husband thinks he really needs his slaves to come back and go to work. But you all know I love you anyway. I have a million things to do today so I'd better get busy!

PhotoShopping

2009-05-12T10:19:00.000-07:00

I got a new program for my computer and am slowly learning to use it. It is the awesome Photoshop Elements 7. I took a few pictures of the kids yesterday. These are not retouched. I just wanted to share them with you.

Happy Times

2009-05-11T17:06:00.000-07:00

As most of you know Steve & Shae came to see us last week. We had such a great time catching up with them, but what really amazed me was how our kids picked up right where they left off. As if absolutely no time had passed since they last saw each other.

We spent many hours visiting and making more memories. Friday we went with Randy & Cheri up to Ouray. The picture on top is of Rueban, Shelby & Tyler rock climbing. I thought the shot of Shane in front of the mountains was just a great picture. I plan to do some embossing on it and send it to Shae.

I can't wait for June.

This probably wouldn't be so amazing but they see each other only about once a year. It is so awesome to have friends like this.

Scary Mountain Passes

2009-04-26T15:04:00.000-07:00

Last Friday I got a call from my dad asking us to drive down to Pagosa Springs to meet him at Franks. No problem. Except that my husband has finally got some wells to drill and would be spending the weekend getting his equipment ready to leave the yard. Which meant I would be doing the driving to Pagosa by myself .....well, by myself with five kids in tow. I am fairly used to going places without Alan as his job doesn't always allow for him to take off in the summertime, but drive to Pagosa is a bit of a challenge.

But with a determined heart we set off at 7 am Saturday morning. Our first stop was the bank. I never leave home without my credit card and at least 40.oo in my pocket. You never know.
Then it was straight to Wal-Mart to rent some movies from the RED BOX. I LOVE the RED BOX. Also know as saving a mothers sanity box. The kids happily watched a flick while I drove valiently on over the mountains.

To get to my brothers house I have to drive to Silverton (thats pass number one). The road has many hairpin turns and switchbacks as well as some none existent shoulders. You do not want to day dream even for a second on Red Mountain Pass or you might wake up well you know.

Once at Silverton we immediently started on Coal Bank Pass (thats number two). It was at least as bad as the first. But the kids were happily involved in their movie. Except for Emily, who had chosen about that time to get carsick. Well she didn't upchuck, she just threatened to repeatedly. Finally we arrived at Durango, where we stopped for gas and snacks. As an experienced mother I allowed all the kids a drink and candy. This is not a time to preach good nutrition habits, this is a time to keep children happily sugared up and starting at a screen. We still had 50 miles to go.

We found Franks house without incident and the kids enjoyed their time with my dad & their cousins. We decided to spend the night because the thought of driving the passes at night gives me the willies. Plus I really didn't want to risk Emily making good on her promise to upchuck in my van. We made it home with out incident, but the next time dad wants to see the grandkids I'll stay home and get the equipment ready and Alan can take the kids.

Miss USA

2009-04-21T13:28:00.000-07:00

I, as most of you know, am a fairly conservative person. My hubby is over the top conservative. A couple of days ago the Miss USA pagent was on television. We did not watch this as we/mostly I, are morally opposed to parading young women out and judging them based on their looks, and figures, for the most part. As if young women don't have enough self-esteem issues already.

However, the next day, Fox News was replaying a portion of the contest, The interview question, due to the fact that one of the judges was extremely biased due to his own lifestyle. He had asked the question of Miss California, "What is your OPINION of gay marriage in the United States, should all states follow the lead of Vermont and legalize it?"

To which she replied as for me & my house I am a Christian and do beleive that marriage is between a man & a woman only. Or something to that effect.

The moronic judge who asked the question gave her a ZERO out of ten. How is some openly gay internet celebrity blogger even given the opportunity to judge that contest. How sad that the extreme left of this country has taken over every area of the entertainment industry.

I for one was very proud of her and her answer. It did cost her the crown. She came in first runner up. And now I have an even lower opinion of Miss USA constests!

Thanks for letting me vent.

I got the WORM!!

2009-04-10T18:20:00.000-07:00

A couple of days ago my computer started acting funny. Not funny ha ha, more like oh no what is going on funny. Anyway by yesterday it was taking my computer 20 minutes to boot up when I turned it on. Yikes. Then it decided it did not wish to allow me to actually use any of my programs. It refused to let me get on the internet and what not. This is not good. My hubby has jobs to bid. I have paperwork to do and blogs to read for goodness sake. So this morning with hubbys blessing I joyfully drove to Office Depot, one of my favorite stores of all time, and met with an awesome geeky tech guy named Miles, and explained to him the situation with my wreck of a computer. Oh, well, it sounds like you got infected with the April Fools Worm.

Is THAT all??

It has basically rendered my computer useless. So I got a new shiny one today. I am in the process of restoring my files to this computer (thank goodness for Carbonite), and everything should be back normal tomorrow.

Friendship

2009-04-02T10:29:00.000-07:00

I am blessed to have many very close friends. People I truly care about. People who I could call on in my hour of deepest need and I know without a doubt that they would come to my rescue.

Some of those friends have taken up permanent residence in my heart and no matter how far away I physically move from them I carry them with me every day. You all know who you are. My BFF celebrates her 38th b-day today. I love her so much and totally miss her. But, very soon she and her family will be coming to visit. I can hardly wait!!

My Life Without Pepsi

2009-03-28T08:30:00.000-07:00

Almost 2 weeks ago a friend passed away quite suddenly from a heart attack. He wasn't very old. We will miss him very much. The whole episode got me thinking how I should probably be taking better care of my health. I have a great fear of developing diabetes when I get older. I also have a tendency to like, I mean really like, OK LOVE, sweets!! I know from experience that I cannot/will not give up all sweets at once, so I decided to change just one thing.

Last Saturday I gave up Pepsi. For those of you that know me well that is a HUGE step. I have drank Pepsi most of my life for goodness sake. But it has been a week now, and although I have had a slight caffine headache for a day or two, for the most part I am feeling really good. Whodathunk it! For those of you who are thinking about joining me on my quest let me give you a few good reasons.

1. Pop is expensive. I figure I am saving at the least $10 a week. Right now that is quite a bit of money to us. Plus by not stopping by the convience store to get a Pepsi I am not tempted to pick up the occasional candy bar or pack of gum.

2. Less sugar in my diet. This is huge and truthfully the reason I gave it up to begin with. As much as I love sweets, sugar makes me feel bad. That is after the initial sugar rush.

3. My stomach does not feel bloated all the time. I didn't really realize this until last night. But it's true, tummy feels a lot better.

4. I don't pass gas as much. At the risk of sounding crude I can tell you this is a big plus. Especially for my husband & kids.

5. I sleep a thousand times better at night! No kidding. If you are having trouble sleeping give up pop and remember to pray before bed. Your body feels better & your mind is at peace.

6. My teeth don't hurt. The fizz in pop eats away at the enamel on my teeth & the sugar makes them hurt.

Let me know if you have anything to add to my list.

I will now get down off my soap box and wish you all a very good week.

Man Jeans!

2009-03-10T10:12:00.000-07:00

Whoever gave little boys permission to grow up? I know I constantly tell them to learn how to take care of themselves, learn to work, learn to cook, learn to do your own laundry, ect. ect..

But why oh why did they start listening to me? Who gave Tyler permission to grow into man jeans?

It used to be so easy to buy clothes for my oldest two boys. They started out in size 2T slim wranglers and through the years they just graduated to a size larger each year. Made it real easy to shop. Fashionista's they are not. So when did Tyler decide to mess with my system? He was doing quite fine in 16 Slims, until I realized one day that Mason was wearing them also. And Tyler informed me that he did not have ANY jeans that fit him properly. Yes the boy is growing into this huge Teen/Man Thing. Now he is exactly two sizes smaller than his daddy. Thats Right. Alan in 30x34, and Tyler is 28x32. The jeans fit great with his mansized feet, and mansized hands, and that head of his oh my it sure is big! But come to think of it, the head was big to start with.

It all scares me sometimes. My oldest baby is now counting down the days until he gets his drivers permit! Eeek! Don't they know they shouldn't give small childern permission to drive large motorized vehicles on public roadways? Before you know it he will decide to up and buy a house or something, equally adulty. In case you all can't tell I am slightly freaked out by all this growing up business.

Movie Night at the McCrackens

2009-03-07T07:13:00.000-08:00

It is no secret that my husband doesn't like going out on dates. That is unless the dates include standing in freezing weather at some equipment auction, in that case, he's all for it. So through the years I have taken the kids in small groups to do "date night with mom!" Tyler & Mason have gone on several dates with me, bowling, out to dinner, movies, different stuff like that. Emily & I occasionally do a girls night out with a little shopping thrown in. Amy is the baby and since she is with me 24/7, we have many lunch dates & park dates. For some reason I don't think I have had a date with Alex in a very long time. Probably since he started school.

Yesterday Alan suggested that I surprise Alex with a date night, just Alex & Mom. Sounded like a great idea to me. So after I picked him up at school and sprung the big surprise on him, he says,

"Oh, That is so awesome! Can we bring dad? And the boys? And the girls too?" I gently explained that date night was just for him and me to spend some time together. He was a little let down by that. Then he said that would be fine, could we go to McDonalds, and bring Amy too so he would have someone to play with. Well OK then. So I asked would he like to rent a movie and get some movie theater type snacks at Wal-Mart, and then we could do a movie night at our house for the whole family.

Yes! This is going to be the best date ever mom. Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!
Hey what can I say, some of my best ideas come on at the spur of the moment.

Off to McDonald we went for our date dinner. Just Mom & Alex & oh yeah, Amy. Where I proceeded to purchase two happy meals, of which, one went 80% uneaten. When will I ever learn. It isn't that they don't like chicken nuggets, it's just that running around and screaming in the play place occupied most of their time. After the customary 5 minute warning, they came back and ate up a bit more of their food and off we went to Wal-Mart.

Wal-Mart is the motherlode for Theater Style snacks. We got Fruit Punch, Pepsi, and Sierra Mist for our drinks. We picked up a case of Mega-Butter style microwave pop-corn. We got ice-cream treats, and we finished it off with huge packages of different kinds of movie theater candy. We were determined to have the best Theater Snack Bar in the valley.

The tricky part came when we went to find a movie. We had planned to rent "Space Buddies" and "Beverly Hills Chi WaWa", but apparently every other family in the Montrose area, had the same Movie Night at home plan that we did. It must be the economy. Finally we found a couple of movies that would make for a good substitution. "The Original Pink Panther Cartoons" & "The City of Embers". After watching an hour of pink panther I called it a night. But the party animals stayed up much later.

Hawaii Trip Report - Long & Involved

2009-02-27T16:47:00.000-08:00

This review was written for cruise critic. A message board I used extensively in planning our vacation. Forgive the impersonal tone. I have edited it where I felt it was needed.

I began planning and saving for this vacation about 2 years ago. We took this vacation to celebrate our 15th anniversary and to get away from our five childern for a week. We love em, really we do.
The Tuesday prior to our departure a representative from NCL called and asked if we would be interested in an upsell to an AE Penthouse suite. We had originally booked a balcony on deck 10. After a quick discussion with my hubby, (while holding the gal on the phone, I did not want her to get away) we decided that for 500.00 more we would definately take the upsell. Thus began our adventure in the Suite Life.My sis & her hubby were then upsold to our now vacated balcony for a very miniscule amount, and we were all happy with the world.

Day #1We were picked up at our home by my hubby's cousin who so graciously had offered to take us to the airport. Our little airport is an easy five minute drive from our place, so we arrived much earlier than nessecary, but hey, we were excited!We took United to Denver than on to HNL. I must say here that this was the absolute worst part of the whole trip. I am not a big fan of flying as it is, but this experience just was the worst. They pack you in like cattle and then expect you to sit down shut up and don't ask any questions.
I am not a fussy person at all but when the fellow in front of me spent the entire trip with his head in my lap I really began to fuss. Not outloud of course, I just set there and quietly fumed to myself.

We arrived in HNL at about 4:14 pm. Our luggage was super easy to find, and then it was off to find a cab. The cab ride cost about $25 into Waikiki. In retrospect I wish I would have sprung for a limo into town. It would have been a bit more, but due to the time of day it took quite a while to get to the hotel. It wasn't an uncomfortable ride but it would have been nice to unwind a bit after the plane ride.Our luck however was about to change.

We arrived at the Wyland Waikiki to find that they were having a huge Pro Bowl Pool Party. Yikes!! Lots of people, Lots of noise! The Assistant General Manager approached us and let us know that they had indeed oversold the rooms for that night....So they would be putting us up for the night in the Penthouse!! No Kidding. It was a beautifully decorated two bedroom place with Wyland Art everywhere. Our deck was essientially the roof of the hotel. We had an amazing view of the ocean, city & mountains. We had deck on three sides of us. We had a great view of the fireworks at the Hilton that night. The decor is lovely. The location is fantastic. The beds are incredible.

Sat. 7th of Feb
We were up bright & early this morning. My sister Beth came by and curled my hair for our departure day, but due to the humidity in Waikiki it had uncurled itself by 7 a.m. We ate breakfast at the IHOP which is across the street from the Wyland. We spent most of the morning exploring The International Marketplace. There are some great deals to be found there.

Took a morning stroll on Waikiki Beach and was amazed at the number of people out that early. This is a no sleeping town. At least it seemed that way. Took several pictures of us messing around at the beach and then headed back to our penthouse for a relaxing snooze on the deck while we waited for time to go to the ship. One thing the manager told us when we first got to our room that everything there was for us to use. He said help yourself to the liquor cabinet. Well seeing as how we don't drink that little perk was wasted on us. But..... Wyland had a stash of Hagan Daaz Icecream in the kitchen freezer, which we happily indulged in with Beth & Robert.

It cost about $20 for a cab ride to the pier, but with the four us splitting the cost it was very doable. We dumped our luggage with the luggage folks at the pier and got in the first line (security). It wasn't too long of a wait even though we showed up right after noon. Due to our Penthouse upsell we bypassed the regular embarkation line and went to the Latitudes line. We were on the ship within five minutes.We were given champange glasses full of orange juice because we don't drink, but no one else greeted us or anything. We were not offended by this or anything. We just took off to explore the ship on our own. This was my first cruise ship experience so I really had no idea what to expect.

Keep in mind we didn't book the cruise for the cruise sake, but for the purpose of seeing as much of Hawaii as possible in the short amount of time we had.Our Penthouse Suite was incredible. It was the size of a very small hotel room, but for a ship's stateroom it was considered large. It had a king size bed, a dressing room and table, a full sized bathroom (although a small one). It did have a small bathtub, it was very nice to soak in after a day of sightseeing. The balcony in this room is the greatest. It held two loungers, and a table with four chairs. It made everything much more spacious. Our cabin steward introduced himself immediately. His name was Conrado and he was the best.

Our Butlers name was Sean. Sean brought us Choc. covered strawberries daily and delivered movies to us on request. We really did not use Seans services much. He is trained to wait on us hand & foot, and frankly we just didn't know what to do with all that attention. He tried not to be intrusive, but he was a nice guy overall.Our first dining experience was in the Aloha Cafe for lunch. I don't care for buffets on the mainland & the same was true for the ship. I don't like the cattle call feel of it, I prefer to be served for dinner rather than serving myself. I wait on six people day in day out all the time, on vacation I like people to wait on me at dinner. The food at the Aloha was fine, but the experience really wasn't what I wanted. This was the only time we ate there.Our ship left port right on time at 8:00. It was fun watching it pull away from the port. Next Up.....Hilo.
__________________One fantastic benefit for being in an AE Penthouse is that you get to have a set down breakfast every morning in the Lazy J cafe. Doing so allows you to get to know the Concierge James, and the Restaurant Manager Thomas as well as most of the dining staff, because they actually have time to speak with you in the morning.We really enjoyed our morning breakfast. We were allowed two guest each morning so my sister & her husband ate with us. They have a fruit & cereal buffet & a menu to order of off. It was all very yummy.

In Hilo we rented a car from Thrifty and made the long drive up to VNP. This was my least favorite of all our days. They had closed most of the trails leading out to the lava crust due to VOG. It also rained continuously. What a bummer. We went back to town and drove over to the Rainbow Falls. We had a great time swinging from the branches in the Banyon Tree Forest. So the day wasn't a total loss. Back at the ship we ate dinner at Little Italy and then went to the Captains VIP Party. I really didn't feel much like a VIP but then again how often am I going to meet the captain of a cruise ship.The water was pretty rough that night so walking about in high heals on the 13th deck was not an easy task. But I managed. I did have to explain to people that no I was not tipsy, but just slightly uncoordinated.Sleeping on the ship came easier to me than I would have thought. The movement of the waves acted as a giant cradle and I fell happily asleep by 9 pm most every night. Waking up wasn't too hard either, as I had planned each day and didn't want to miss to much of my vacation.

The next day was the first of two in Maui. The ship docked, we had our breakfast and then off to rent a car. Major point here. If you think you might be needing a car for any of the ports RESERVE IN ADVANCE. Most generally they are all reserved and getting one is a major undertaking if not done in advance. One couple attempted to board a shuttle bus and was told that a car for one day would cost $200!! Yikes! Glad that couple wasn't us. We had reserved a convertible for the two days we were in Maui. We drove THE ROAD TO HANA. Was it worth it? I don't know. Our main point in driving up was to play in the falls at Oheo Gulch, but when we got there the Rangers said No Way! Too much water coming down out of the mountains. The sceanery was very pretty, but I grew up in Western Oregon and I have seen A LOT of pretty sceanery. So for us I think we would have enjoyed an extra day on they beach near Lahina.Day two on Maui found us headed south to Lahina & West Maui. We rented two boogie boards at Mr. Frogs in Lahina and headed up the west coast to find a place to use them. We found a great beach and and boogie boarded the day away. Honestly one of my favorite days.
__________________Our big mistake in Kona was not renting a car. We really should have. Taxi fares ended up costing us over $50 for the day.We had VIP tender tickets, (I was really enjoying all this VIP stuff)! We were on the first tender off the ship & really would have had time to rent a car, but didn't because the snorkel place told us it would put us late getting there. Instead we were a good hour too early!!Anyway aside from that we had a good day. We were on the Fairwinds II which ended up going to the exact same spot as every other snorkel company. The snorkeling was fun and I really enjoyed using the view boxes because I am very near sighted and needed my glasses to enjoy the experience. The water was very clear and we spotted many interesting fish as well as a moray eel! Very cool! The water was also very cold. . The people on the Fairwinds were all very nice. The grilled hamburgers were decent. We did a little shopping in Kona & then got in line to tender back.The night before the Kona stop we attended the Chris Alpine show. We were very pleased with it. It was clean comedy & he was very funny. My husband doesn't usually like comedy shows because they tend to use a lot of foul language and such, but even he liked Chris. After the show we attended the Not so Newlywed game. It was pretty fun & entertaining. We actually set next to one of the couples when we were returning from Kona the next day. A little bit uncomfortable knowing too much info about the strangers next to you. We left Kona & headed for my favorite island Kauai.
__________________Kauai 1st DayI really enjoyed our day & 1/2 in Kauai. The people there are exceptionally friendly. We disembarked early, as usual, and were met at the dock by a gentleman giving out "Kauai Loves You" buttons. This is my favorite keepsake from our trip. Everywhere we went there the people went out of their way to be friendly to us. It was a nice place.We rented a car from Thrifty that day. Head up...Thrifty Car Rental is not located at the airport with the others. It is a completely different location. We drove to Princeville Ranch Adventures for our Zip -n- Dip. This was our funnest excursion of the trip. Our guides were Kyle & Steph and they were a blast. They made sure everyone was enjoying themselves and were always making jokes. Nobody felt rushed. Everyone in our group was very easy going. We zipped I think it was eight lines. They were all pretty long. Then we hiked down a very steep trail,(100 times steeper hiking back up), to have our lunch and do the Dip portion of the trip. The water was very brown due to excessive mountain rains, but the diehards in the group jumped in anyway. Not me. I don't like swimming in dirty water. Even if it is clean dirt. Most people in our group tipped Kyle & Steph $20 a couple, I was glad about that, they certainly earned it.

During our excursion we met a couple who own a condo on Kauai and they invited us over to visit for a bit afterwards. They were lovely and we enjoyed ourselves there also.We decided to find a beach to play on and ended up at Hana Lei Bay. We spent all afternoon & evening there. This beach was a lot of fun. Then after pulling my hubby & B-I-L from the surf we went to find something to eat. We found a place called Tiki Man Pizza. The fellow working there was by himself, but he managed to take orders, answer phones, & make pizza too. He owned the place. There was a band playing at the bar next door & they were very fun to listen to. One thing to remember when renting a car is that shuttles back to the ship stop at 7. We got there at 8. Ooops! However the nice lady at the rental desk got one of the car detailer guys to take us back to the ship. Whew! It was about a four mile walk otherwise & I was wearing a swimsuit & it is rather cool in the evenings in Kauai in winter. All in all it was a great day.
__________________Day 2 KauaiWe were picked up from the ship at about 9 am for our helicopter ride with Safari Helicopters. It was a very nice experience. Not life changing but nice. From the helicopter you get to see parts of Kauai that are so remote you wouldn't see them otherwise. Our pilot was a nice guy although I can't remember his name. We received our DVD in the mail last Saturday. It is fun to go back and relive the experience again.After our return to the ship we ate lunch in the Lazy J. A perk of Suite VIP service. Unfortunately we didnt get to stay on Kauai as long as we would have liked. We will definately vacation there in the future.End of the TripThe last day we disembarked fairly early, as we had a car reserved to explore the Northshore of Oahu. Disembarkation was simple. It is very stress free. However, lugging baggage around the airport is not fun. If we had it to do over again we would have used Easy Fly. It would have been nice to not worry about luggage and all later in the day.After renting our car we headed out to Haiwea. My sister & I did some shopping, and I got my first Shave Ice. Oh My. It was delicious. Then we started up the coastline and finally stopped at Waimea Bay, (I hope thats how its spelled). We changed into our suits and even though the weather wasn't the greatest we still had a blast playing in the surf for a few hours. We then continued our drive around the island. If you have a chance I highly recommend the drive. It is so beautiful.

After some Waikiki shopping we were off to return the rental & wait for our flight. We (as usual) got there extremely early. I read 10 chapters of my novel just waiting for time to pass. It was a good book. Our flight left at 11:30 PM. I don't care much for night flights over the ocean. We had however booked extended leg room for this United flight, so it was much more bearable than the first. The following are random things I would do the same of differently knowing what I know now.

1. I most definately would not fly United to HNL again. I would try to get a flight on Hawaiian instead.
2. I would take an upsell to a Penthouse Suite again, given the opportunity. My husband, however, after this experience said he would just save the money up and book the Penthouse Suite from the start. We really loved the room and the service. BTW we did tip our Butler & our Room Steward well at the end of the trip. They deserved it.
3. I would not make the drive to VNP unless the weather was clear. We all felt like it was a waste of time to drive up there and not get to see anything. I would instead use the time to see more of the waterfalls around Hilo.
4. I would not do the Road to Hana. Very, very long drive. Would have rather had another day at the beach.
5. Probably would have booked the Molokini snorkel excursion at Maui instead of Fairwinds at Kona. This would have freed up some beach time for Kona beaches or maybe shopping.
6. Absolutely would do Princeville Zip-n-Dip again. Well worth the time and the money.
7. Wouldn't be in such a hurry to get to the airport for home. Could have spent that time at Waikiki beach.
8. Would have scheduled more time pre cruise & post cruise for Hawaii. I think having time to adjust to the time change would really let you enjoy things more.

It was a wonderful vacation. Next time we go to Hawaii we plan to stay on Kauai and bring all five of the kids with us.

More Hawaii Pictures

2009-02-20T17:40:00.000-08:00

Thats all I've got time for right now. The water in Hawaii is really, really blue. At times it looks like blue ink. Very pretty & warm. We had a wonderful time. I hope someday we will go again and take the kids.

ALOHA

2009-02-16T16:18:00.000-08:00

I'm Baaaaack!! I will post more photos. But here is a preview.

Its The FINAL COUNTDOWN!!!!

2009-01-29T08:05:00.000-08:00

Picture loud, rauncous, headbanger, 80's music in the background. Its not actually playing, but whenever I think of the above title the music is ringing in my ears. I seem to have spent way too much time listening to 80's Rock Music in my youth. You'all can forgive me for that can't you.

Only less than 8 days until we board our plane and are Hawaii bound. Hope, Hope, Hope for good flying weather. I have only had one truly bad flying experience in all my years of flying. When I flew to OK for Drave & Kristas wedding the plane made a very sudden drop and was being bumped about as if we were on some central America potholed road in the sky. I gripped the arm rest so tightly that my hands and fingers turned white, all color left my face, I must have looked pretty bad because the elderly gentleman sitting next to me started patting my hand "It's going to be ok honey, now don't you worry, these pilots know what they're doing, ect...
And they did of course. We landed safe and sound. After which the pilot got on the PA and spoke these comforting words, "Ladies & Gentlemen, I apologize for the bumpy flight, However, we were able to keep the airplane on the very outskirts of the tornado, I hope you enjoy your stay in Tulsa." WHAT??? Did that guy just say TORNADO? But, after I got safely off the plane little Miranda who was about 9 at the time said," Oh, J....I am so glad you are safe I was praying, and praying cause you were up there in that tornado. Ahhh, what a sweetie.

This time however I am not flying to OK in Tornado Season. No I am flying to Hawaii in the middle of winter via Denver (I see no problem at all here, do you?), with my loving & patient hubby, who I might add, hates to fly. I'm sure everything will be fine. Heh, heh. Well if everyone is praying for us I'm sure it will be.

Currently I am going through my piles of clothing and trying to figure out what to pack. I just know if I try on a thousand different ensembels I will hit upon the perfect outfit to wear to dinner our first night. As for the trip out there I shall wear a pair of jeans, good tennis shoes, a t-shirt, covered by a warm sweatshirt. And possibly a floatation device.

Thats Right I AM the Party Momma

2009-01-23T06:32:00.000-08:00

Up & At 'em Bright & Early

2009-01-19T13:38:00.000-08:00

I had a horrible headache last night. My body is still trying to recover from being thrashed about by a semi. I woke at about 4:30 this morning and after 30 minutes of tossing & turning I got up & dressed and went to work on the house. Started a load of wash. Cleaned the kitchen and walked for 30 minutes on my treadmill. Not wanting to waste this running start to my day I woke Emily & Alex up for school at 6:15. Their bus comes by at 7 :20 and I knew Em needed a shower, and Alex tends to be extra slow on Mondays. So after the usual Monday morning crisis they were dressed and shoed and ready to head out the door. About 7:30 Emily came back in and told me they must have missed the bus. Oh pish posh I say, she is probably just running a bit late today give her a few more minutes. So they waited. And waited and waited. Well gee they must have missed the bus. Emily says "Mom, did you know that today is Martin Luther King day?" WHAT?? Perhaps I should check the school website.

No School Today. My childern are overjoyed. I am slightly embarrassed.

The News of my demise.....

2009-01-15T07:34:00.000-08:00

has been greatly exagerated. Thank Heavens!

As most of you have no doubt heard by now I wrecked our new van last Friday morning. Don't try to take on a semi--99% of the time you will lose.

I hit some black ice on the way to grandmas and flew (like a bullet shot from a gun) through a stop sign. I had absolutely no traction so couldn't turn or stop or do anything. There is usually no traffic on Falcon road at that time of day so I thought I might make it to a stop on the other side of the road. Problem is there was a small semi-truck & trailer on Falcon and well, I hit him. I hit the trailer not the truck so the driver is uninjured. That is truly a blessing.

Amy & I are both ok. My neck is still pretty sore on the left side, and Amy is accquiring her very first black eye. It actually just started turning colors yesterday. Before that it was just very red. She hit her head on the door, but she has bounced back from this very quickly.

I just heard from the insurance company that they have totalled the van (no, really??) So I am without a vehicle, and now without a payment also. We will need to be finding me something to drive, but hopefully not until I get back from Hawaii.

On a lighter note, Alan & I went to the pool this week and practiced snorkeling. It was a bunch of fun. Hopefully we will get to go once or twice more before the trip so we will be semi capable when we go out on the snorkel boat.

Yesterday Amy & I went to Grand Junction with Mom Mc and dropped her off at Aunt Lenores. The Amy & I went to JCP and had her pictures taken. It was the first time I've had them taken professionally since she was a year old! She will be five next week. I am a HORRIBLE mother. Time passes much more quickly the older you get and I just let it get away from me. I didn't intend to have her picture done, but we pulled up outside the mall and I thought "I could be going to a funeral today for this little girl, instead of taking her shopping", I realized how close I came to losing her and decided then and there that we were doing pictures. So I rushed in a bought her a new outfit. She looked adorable by the way. The lady didn't have any other appts. that morning so she took quite a bit of time with her. The pictures will be in Jan 21st. I will post some online so you'all can see how cute she is.

While I was there Uncle John called and said that Lanise had a baby girl!! Yey! I am so happy for them. Of course we had to stop by and see her on the way home. She is a beauty.

All your phone calls, thoughts & prayers have been greatly appreciated.

Still Alive & Kicken'

2009-01-07T17:09:00.000-08:00

So rather than dwell on all the horrible stuff that happened last year I have finally decided to post again and let you all know what I am truly thankful for in the year 2009. I know it isn't Thanksgiving anymore, but just work with me here people.

1. I am so thankful to be in the Faith & to be able to raise my children in this wonderful home with their awesome daddy. I know too many people for whatever reason don't have this.

2. I'm thankful for Alan, who has to be one of the nicest, kindest, best looking (ya'all get the drift) men I have ever known. It has been an absolutely amazing 15 years with him.

3. I'm thankful to only have less than 30 days until our trip to Hawaii!!! Can you believe it?? I still drool over the beach pictures daily. Sis & I talk several times a day about our upcoming vacation. Working out every single detail ahead of time, because I am such a "Type A" person. I must be in control at all times. Plus I just really like to plan.

4. I'm thankful the youngkids finally came to our house last Sunday just to hangout and I didn't totally stress out about everything. They wrestled in livingroom (after pushing the new furniture against the walls), they played the Wii for hours, they ate chips & pop, and cake, and pretty much whatever we had in the house. All in all a very good day.

5. I'm thankful Aunt Debbie Smith got to come and visit us for a weekend even if the reason for her journey wasn't the happiest. (Bro. Buds Funeral).

6. I'm thankful that I have 5 healthy happy kids who occasionally drive me crazy.

7. I'm thankful to have so many people I can truly call friends. Some that I only get to see very occasionally and others who are an almost daily part of my life. It is a great feeling to not feel like the social outcast that I was in grade school. To finally feel grown up enough to know what true friends are and how to be one to all of mine even if I sometime fail at the attempt.

8. I hope you all know how much I love and adore you. You West Coasters who I miss so much. You Okies whom I don't get to see enough of and all the others who I have not had the privelage to meet face to face yet. Someday, maybe. I'm even thankful for the lurkers out there who are too shy to come out and say high.

Thanks for listening to my trials and travails of the last year and lets hope for sunshine and happiness in 2009.

Missy Dog

2008-12-11T07:36:00.000-08:00

When we moved here 6 1/2 years ago we were presented with a 1 yr old puppy. A beautiful border collie. The kids named her Missy. She quickly became part of the family. She also became heavy, noisey, and hyper ( but we won't go there right now). During the summer drilling season Missy would jump into the back of the pick-up and head out with Alan & the boys to drill.

When we returned from our various trips she would greet us with barking, whining (where Have you been?), and licking everyone. We have had Missy longer than we have had Amy!!

Last Monday Alan was building fence in the field and Missy got under the pick-up and was ran over. She died about 20 minutes later. It was pretty sad for all of us. How do say good bye to a pet. She was more like a member of our family.

I will be soo0 happy when this year is over. I am tired of death. Tired of losing the people I love when they are much too young to die. Missing little Josiah today terribly. And my Mom, and my Uncle Ben, and Aunt Betha, and Josh, and, and, and. I will be happy to ring in 2009.

An unexpected gift

2008-12-05T09:42:00.000-08:00

I have been blessed with many friends throughout my life. Some are around for a short time and then I don't see them anymore, and there are those that have been around for most of my life and will always be. But no matter cause with most of my friends we are able to pick up right where we left off weather it has been 2 days or 20 years, the friendship never dies.

Before we left for Oklahoma I was reading Mrs. Mom Wests' blog and there was a picture of a friend of mine from Oklahoma that I had not seen for 16 (thats right SIXTEEN) years. This friend was in a terrible car accident about a year ago and in that accident her back was broken. I had been pretty distressed about it at the time, but had heard that she had recovered for the most part. Anyway, I saw this picture of her and thought how wonderful it would be to get to see her again.

The Saturday before Thanksgiving we were in Parkland at a little pizza party at Lora Jacksons (one of those life long friends), and there were many, many people there. We hadn't been there long at all when this friend (Charlotte) walked in the door. We must have hugged each other for five minutes straight!! I was so happy to see her again. She had brought her childern up from Purcell for the evening, kind of a spur of the moment thing. I really feel that the Lord just put it in her mind to be there, as a special gift to me. We had such a wonderful enjoyable evening. I have pictures but left my camera at the church the other day. I'll try to post them later. Sometimes the very best gifts are those that are unplanned and completely unexpected.

In addition to that we were able to spend the first part of Thanksgiving week with Evan & Sarah as they were in Oklahoma the same week we were. What a great time we had. Also a very unexpected gift. The lady at a convinence store thought Alan was Evans dad. I don't know if he will ever live that one down. Sarah took to calling us Nanny & Poppa McCracken. Just cracked me up!!

We had a super great time at my sisters house for Thanksgiving. Tons of yummy food, and my sis had invited a family over that had no relatives in the area. They are from Kentucky and could not drive back for Thanksgiving. They were a really nice family. Our family has an ornament exchange after dinner and it was quite fun this year, with all the ornament stealing and hiding. My sisters oldest son Alan Wayne is engaged to get married to his highschool sweetheart. She is a lovely lady and fits in quite well with our family.

Friday after TG my sister Cindy and I spent a lot of time shopping together. It was a bunch of fun. Saturday we started home and drove straight through. Went to church at home Sunday and had a great meeting. Bro. Richard & Sis. Krista were here. As were Gale & her family. We had such a great meeting. But I'll let Neena tell you all about that.

So our lives have been crazy busy lately. That time of year I suppose. Just found out this morning that my Uncle Russ & Aunt Priscilla will be here tomorrow. It will be nice to see them again. If I don't post again for a while its because of all this busyness.

15 Years - The years just keep flying by

2008-11-19T08:27:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is mine & Alan's 15 year anniversary. I fell in love with this guy the minute I saw him. Really I did. I know some people don't beleive in "love at first sight", but it sure did happen for us. It has been a crazy, scary, fun ride (kinda like the most horrific thrill ride at Six Flags), but boy has it been a blast.

My husband has stood by me through childbirth (5 times), loss of many friends and loved ones, loss of my momma, this journey to Colorado, starting and slaving away at our business, home remodels (twice), grey hair (mine), losing hair (his), you name it we've seen most of it. But through it all his love for me has held me up. I will be forever thankful for the guy God sent my way. I know I probably don't say it enough, but I Love You Baby. You are everything to me.

LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT

2008-11-17T10:04:00.000-08:00

I am so happy with my new dishwasher, (can you tell). It washes perfectly and is very very quiet. Now my kitchen and the rest of the house are CLEAN. I am not the worlds best housekeeper, but I love having a clean house. The prospect of me acquiring a maid are slim and none, so my houseskeeping skills are improving. With the new dishwasher things are so much easier.

Saturday, Em & I went grocery shopping and bought a bunch of stuff to do our holiday baking. We are making cookies for the cookie exchange in Dec. We are also making cookies for the widow baskets. There are 23 widow/other baskets to do this year. I would like to get those done and put in the freezer before we leave for Oklahoma. We are visiting my sister Cindy & her family for Thanksgiving. I am so exicted. I miss them terribly. Kind of strange to miss them all so much, seeing that I was out there so much this year, but Cindy & I are close and I love spending time with her. Also I get to see Bethie (YAAAY!!). Life would be miserable without my daily calls with my little sis. Hopefully get to see Colin & Tereasa too.

Saturday night I got all my Sunday dinner stuff done so we could have company over after church. Randy & Cheri and Danny & Raya came. I made steak fajitas in the crockpot. They turned out really good. Cheri made Spanish rice to go with it and it was fabulous. Raya brought some delicious choc. brownies. My husband and kids all pitched in before church to get the house company ready so I wasn't so stressed out. So all in all it was a very good day.
I love you all please leave me a message. This includes you Aunt Deanna.

Dishwasher gone Kah Put

2008-11-13T07:55:00.000-08:00

Old trusty finally bit the dust. It was really time for it to go. After all it had lived a good 6 1/2 years in this house, which is known for distroying appliances at lightening speed. We have been talking about replacing it for a couple of months now, but we were trying to get past the winter slump. Maybe next year, we said. Old trusty had different ideas. Noope she said. Time for me to take early retirement and head on down to south Florida to lie in the sun. (or wherever old appliances go to retire.) So it just up and decided on Monday to stop pumping the water out of the tub. Now there it sets, tub full of water, because someone (ME) hasn't had the time or desire to scoop out the water one cup at a time. It is presently being used as a dish drainer.

Seven people without a dishwasher is just one big mess waiting to happen. I've been washing by hand. It brings back horrible childhood memories. The house never really gets totally all at once clean. The family tends to dirty it faster than I can clean it. Thank goodness the washing machine is still working.

I am a type A personality. I reserch and plan everything before making a move. I read reviews. I read sale ads. I read specs. You name it I read it! After all this reading we went shopping. Sears was having a good sale so we checked them out. I found a Kenmore elite dishwasher with a stainless interior and a food grinder on sale!!! I begged the man, please...Please!! Let me take it home today. You don't understand. I have FIVE childern, none of which are inclined to wash dishes. Please let me take it home today! No, I'm sorry Ma'am. We can not send any of our floor models home. You must wait until Friday when it will be delivered to the store.

So here I set. Anxiously awaiting Friday.

They shot 'em a deer TWO actually

2008-11-05T14:17:00.000-08:00

Mason shot his deer on Sunday. He was walking a little taller when he got home. Tyler shot his on Tuesday. He was also very happy with himself. So it looks like Alan & I will need to make good on the agreement to buy a good meat drier so the boys can make a bunch of jerky. It's all very exciting you know.

Working at our local polling place on Tueday was very exciting. There were about 30 people in line about 10 minutes before we opened. They all stepped inside and said the "Pledge of Alligience" with us right before 7:00, then the polls opened and WOW!! We were busy most of the day. The polls closed at 7 p.m. and after the county checked our records to make sure we hadn't messed anything up we were allowed to leave a little after 8 pm. That was nice cause after getting up at 5 am I was pretty tired!! I don't know if I will volunteer again to do it, but it was very enjoyable and I have a new respect for the people who make go so smoothly.

A Huntin They will GO!!!

2008-10-31T12:53:00.000-07:00

The boys & their dad & grandpa are headed out this afternoon to the bug infested, cold, dark wilderness to go deer hunting. The best part of this little adventure is that I don't have to GO!
Yeah Me!! Don't get me wrong I enjoy camping out to some extent. Although for me that involves a motor home, lawn chair, lots of books, or plenty of friends to visit with. It would also be nice to go and not be resposible for cooking all the meals, cleaning up the camp, making sure everyone has plenty of warm clothes, etc. etc.

Alex is thrilled to be going this year. I hope they get something this year. It would make him so happy. I'm sure glad we have boys who enjoy this sort of thing.

As for the girls and I. I am renting some chick flicks and also attending a wedding on Saturday. I have tossed around the idea of renting a carpet shampooer and cleaning the family room carpet. We shall see.

Sarah Palin

2008-10-22T11:38:00.000-07:00

Monday evening Alan & I and friends went to see Sarah Palin at GJT. There were about 16,000 people there. She is quite an amazing woman. She really brings home the conservative message of self-sufficiancy, lower taxes, and a strong national defense. We really enjoyed ourselves. In Colorado we have mail in voting and early voting. We voted mail in last week. I hope that people take advantage of their right to vote even if they don't agree with me. People have fought and died in wars to give us this opportunity.

My kids have got the flu. Except for Mason, but he is wishing he had the flu, as his dad has him outside cleaning the yard and mowing. Bummer. I'm supposed to take a crockpot full of chili to the school at 4. for the teachers appreication dinner. It isn't really a sit down dinner, more of an eat and run dinner they the get between conferences tonight. Poor teachers. At least we are feeding them. Alex & Emily's conferences are tonight. Should be an interesting night.

"Alex is easily distracted, and not very mature for his age."

"WHAT?? My son? Not very mature for 6?" Gee thanks for the heads-up.

Oh how I love teachers conferences.

The Final Push

2008-10-15T07:50:00.000-07:00

Seems that most things in life come down to the final push. We are always looking forward to something happening, or not happening. This week is full of final pushes for us.

On Friday night Em is going to her first Girl Scout banquet where she becomes an official "Brownie". I bought her a cute pair of Kahki slacks and a white polo to wear as well as her sash. I must iron on her patches and make some BBQ Baked beans all by Friday afternoon.

Alan started a new well today. I'm pretty happy about that as our season is coming to an end and this is the time of year I start getting stressed about weather we will have enough money on hand to make to next season. This is the final push of the season, before the snow falls, or the election takes place and we find ourselves facing many, many, many months of no new wells to drill and the possibility of Alan needing to find a position somewhere. Oh the things I worry about.

Saturday night my two oldest boys are going to attend a Masquarade Ball at Orchard Mesa church. So as a good mommy I will make a trek to Murdochs for Black jeans and long sleave white button ups. This is what they are wearing with their mask. Very original huh?? They worked on their mask yesterday, did a pretty good job too. My little guys are growing up right before my eyes. Tyler is taller than Grandma Minnie. Weird huh. He has great big man feet. He doesn't walk he struts. Where did he get all this extreme confidence from. I know it wasn't from me, his neurotic mother. And I don't think from his dad either, he leans toward the quiet side. It must be some throwback gene he inherited from my mom. HMMMM.

Mason is growing about 6 inches a week, or so it seems. About 2 weeks after buying new jeans for him I start noticing he is wearing high waters. "Who's jeans are those Mason?" oh "There mine, mom" "Where did you get them?" "You bought them." Well Duh, like he is really going to spend any of HIS hard earned money on clothes! So okay now he is moving up yet another size, and it looks like we will need to drill an extra well a year just to keep the kid clothed.

My little Alex is learning to read. Slowly surely. He is not too fond of math though. Just another thing for me to worry about. I know from experience he will be reading and doing math with great ability by the time he is 12. Life sure is funny that way.

Amy has discovered PBSKIDS.ORG. She has to play at least one game a day on it or serious fits ensue. I fear I am raising a little terrorist.

My Civic Duty

2008-10-06T08:36:00.000-07:00

In my never ending quest to be in first position on Trina's blog list, I have decided to to write more happenings in my life.

A couple of months ago I was a the court house with Alan, and because the boys & I are learning about elections, I asked Alan if it would be okay for me to volunteer as an election judge for the upcoming election. Kind of a hands on civic responsibility type thing. Sooooo....of course he said sure, (my husband is pretty easy going). I approached the elections division office and asked how I would go about volunteering to be an elections judge. She handed me a packet of papers to fill out which included a W-9 form. After questioning the lady about the need for the form she told me this a paid position, and for working the election and doing the training you will be paid $10 per hour!!! Yea for me. I haven't had an actual paying job since three days before my wedding. WOW. So I get to go to training Wednesday afternoon, also paid. And I get to help with the mailout ballots shortly after that and the election day. Should be very exciting and very educational at the same time. Now Alan is teasing me about being a working wife!! But he did OK it so he's doing alright. And it should give me some spending money for the After Thanksgiving sales that I plan to go to with my sissy's in Oklahoma.

In other news, we went to church yesterday, as usual. Its funny how something just kind of hits you when you didn't really realize it at all before. Yesterday it seemed that we had over 50 youngkids & 5 to 12 year olds. In our little church. Its a good thing we are building that new building. Ten years from now those kids are going to thank us!!!

Homeschool Tales

2008-10-02T09:46:00.000-07:00

My sons have never been very good readers, there I said it, out there for the whole world to see. At least thats what I thought until recently. My oldest has struggled for years with tracking issues and with a general fear of reading. That stint in the special reading class at school did not help him at all! He had a teacher who called him bad names and told him he was just stupid. But I digress.

I myself, love to read. Anything, Everything, Everywhere. So it has been with some surprise that my, not to interested in reading, sons have miraculously started reading. Not just because as part of their homeschooling, I demand that they read, but because they actually seem to be enjoying their books! Who woulda thunk it??

Tyler is currently reading "Carry On, Mr. Bowditch", and Mason is heavily involved in the lastest Hardy Boys adventure. And I am one very happy momma. This summer I purchased several paperbacks through Amazon to have in case someone caught the reading bug, and it looks like it took. The library is nice, but I wanted the kids to read for the enjoyment of reading without deadlines or the worry of overdue fees. So this has been working pretty well. I must go now. Where did I put my book???

Poor Tammy!!

2008-09-30T10:49:00.000-07:00

This morning my sis in Oklahoma called and said her SIL Tammy, who happens to live one mile from me, has contracted a very servere case of poison sumac!! EEEKKK! Well I have never had this affliction, but I am extremely allergic to poison oak so I can certainly feel her pain. Beth said she had been to Wal-Mart (tammy) to find some Tecnu to wash with and attempt to get the poison oil off her skin and try to stop the spread, but she was unable to find it. I called Wal-greens and found some there so I made an emergency run to town and got it for her. She was pretty happy to see me. The poor girl looks just terrible. She is litterly covered in poison sumac. Hopefully it doesn't hang on too long.

Happy Sunday

2008-09-28T19:31:00.000-07:00

Today the church at Delta ordained Bro. Ray Bellew to be an Elder. It is such a blessing for us because we have doubled our Elder population. It has been 30 years since they last ordained here. Everything went very smoothly. We had a very good meeting. It was also church dinner day and many people stayed for dinner. Our new building is coming along nicely. It is trussed and sheeted, now for the windows and doors. The little kids have really been enjoying playing baseball in there with the tennis rackets. That will definately have to stop once the windows go in. Looks like by this time next year we will be in the new building, Lord willing.

The brethern have had so much unity lately. That feels so good. To know that the brethern truly love and care for one another. It was our intent to ordain two more elders, but neither of them felt that this was their time. But hopefully next time it will be easier. We are so blessed that things went so well this time. I will post pictures of the new building soon.

In other news....I curled Amy's red hair for church this morning. She looked a lot like Shirley Temple until she got her face dirty playing in the dirt pile. Oh well. Tom boys make the best girls I've always heard. Randy & Sheri N. & kids came by after church and we had a very good visit. We sure do enjoy them. That little Melanie is a doll.

Happenings in Colorado

2008-09-26T07:12:00.000-07:00

Last night was church. Randy & Cheri sat in front of us. Their baby kept crawling over Drewsie to get to Shelby. First the baby kicks her in the head. Drew turns to us looking like she is about to cry. I couldn't help it I got the giggles. The a few minutes later the baby hits her in the face with a book! Poor girl was seriously getting beat up last night. She was no worse for the wear though. We sure have enjoyed them coming here for church. I hope the Lord allows for their house to sell soon.

Sunday morning we are going to ordain an elder. It is nice for the church to have named leadership. Pray for us that this can be accomplished. The brothern have had much unity lately and it really is home to me now. Bout time we've only lived here 6 years!

We are in the middle of building our new church building. It is huge! It will have a kitchen and eating area, and a very good size meeting area too. It has been really great to watch all the guys work together happily enjoying one anothers company. They will be sheeting the trusses on Saturday. It will probably take quite a while to finish, due to funding issues, but eventually it will get done.

Last Saturday I had tickets to see the Issacs in concert in Ridgeway. I bought for myself and my boys but Alex declined to go at the last minute so I took Rueban N. Tyler & Mason. It was in a small church so we were all up close & personal with them. Kind of like sitting in someones living room. We throughly enjoyed the concert. I met Lily Issacs, (the mom). She remembered Beth & Sandy from Branson last year when they couldn't get seats and Lily had them all come in anyway (7 friends in all) and they got to set up front on the instrument cases. I thought it was pretty cool that she would remember them. I bought 3 CD's for me and 1 DVD for Angela Mc who is a huge Issacs fan and couldn't go because no ticket, and it would have been hard to leave Kyle for that long. Plus she just had her 30th birthday so we called it a late birthday present. She told me last night that the DVD is great! My favorite CD is the one called "Songs we've worn out". It has 20 songs on it all greatest hits. Love, love, love it!

We don't get many Southern Gospel groups this side of Colorado. But I guess Ridgeway Christian Center is going to make Southern Gospel night a yearly event. So maybe I will get to see some of my favorites in the future.

Tyler & Mason went to outdoor school with our homeschooling group. Tyler said he was a little too old for it but he did have a good time. They got to do repelling, canoeing, horseback riding, rock climbing. Sounds like fun maybe I'll go next year with Emily.

I think I will homeschool Emily & Alex next year, but of course that is all subject to change.

Oh I almost forgot to mention on the 12th Angela & I took Tracey & Emily out to dinner & then to see Beauty & the Beast at the Magic Circle Theater. We let them wear their fancy dresses and fixed their hair up all pretty. The got many adoring comments from strangers, and we, the proud mama's, just stood by and grinned!

LEWIS FAMILY REUNION - NOTICE

2008-09-15T09:35:00.000-07:00

This was the quickest way I could think of to get this info out.

The reunion will be held in Oregon at the campground in Turner. This is the same one that the church uses. The dates are June 19, 20, 21 with cleanup on June 22nd.

If you have any question contact me or Tina Mc.

PreSchool Dropout

2008-09-11T09:54:00.000-07:00

Well we gave it a go anyway! Amy was soooo excited about going to school so we enrolled her in preschool in Olathe. She was thrilled with her new backpack, new school clothes, and her flashy new school shoes, so off she went. Now, as most of you know I am not a huge fan of public schools but I could see that as a very social person she would probably enjoy time to play with children her own age. What could possibly go wrong??

Tuesday of this week after I had her dressed, fed, and ready to leave for school she annouced quite calmly that she was finished with school and would not be going anymore! WHAT?? So we tried to figure out exactly what to do about this situation. Alan said to give her a day off and try again tomorrow. We did, she didn't change her mind, in fact she is even more resolute in her determination that she too will homeschool.

Now I have to go to headstart and unenroll her in preschool.

This morning she brought the map of the world placemat to me and felt she must know all the names of the countries and oceans, (just in case she gets the itch to travel), so her & I talked about the Earth and how it is round like a ball, and yes Norway is much farther away than it looks on the map, and wouldn't it be fun to live in Bolivia, and is that purple stuff surrounding Antartica ice?, (how did she know that Antartica is ice?), and is it called Greenland because it is green?, and where is Hawaii?. So my little preschooler is really a little thinker, and mom should just learn to go with the flow!!

The boys have been busy doing there math & reading, and various writing assignments I give them. They are also studying The Constitution, elections, electoral college, polls and 9/11,
Alex and Emily are still in PS. Although they are making presistant noises (kinda like an annoying little mosquito), that they want to homeschool too. We shall see.

Trip to Oregon/This & That

2008-09-04T08:22:00.000-07:00

It seems that it has been quite a while since I last posted. To start with I am homeschooling Tyler & Mason this year and we are loving it. It is much less stressful when I am not the one teaching them how to read. So far we are doing math daily, Grammer, twice a week, history & science unit studies (self-designed), and daily journal writing. That has been working quite well thus far. I made the boys sign a contract with me that they would do their work & chores without arguing, fighting, or sassing! Their dad also threatened to send them back to public school if they gave me any guff. So far, so good.

They week that the little kids (Emily, Alex & Amy) started school, Bro. Josh W. passed away in Oregon. Alan & I took Tyler, Mason & our nephew Tim with us and went to Oregon for Josh's funeral. While it was very sad for all of us there was great joy & rejoicing in knowing where we will see him next. I know that life will be very challenging for Cynthia, but she is a strong person and is surrounded by a wonderful family.

While in Oregon we stayed with Rob n Dixie and their girls, (all very beautiful BTW). That was fun it just feels like we never have enough time. Got to spend one night with Steve n Shae & their boys (also quite beautiful). It was fun to watch the teenagers play their little games, funny that one of those kids is now mine!

On Sat, when we were in Oregon, we took Amber & the boys to the Pacific Ocean. It was a blast. We spent a lot of time getting soaked at Cape Perpetua. I do have pictures but they are on the other camera. That is the problem with having two cameras.

In other news. My dad came to see us last weekend. We went to Ouray and hiked at box canyon falls then dad took us all swimming at the Hot Springs pool. It is my kids favorite place to swim. Alex has pretty much taught himself how to swim this summer, Amy is well on her way. All in all it was a very nice day. Tyler turned 14 that day also. Can't hardly beleive that. He was just a baby a few days ago! Mason is 12 now and is getting pretty wound up about being a teenager next year. I know that soon my young men will be gone from our home and have homes of their own. I only hope I can give them all tools they need to take care of themselves when they go. They above are some pictures of our trip to Ouray.

Sunday-Sweet Corn-Singing

2008-08-17T18:21:00.001-07:00

Well to begin with we went to church. Very good for us. Meeting was well attended and was reasonably well participated in. (There I go ending a sentence incorrectly.) Rusty & Childern were here and I don't know how long they are staying but the Bellew crew were present & accounted for.(There I go again.) After church we invited several over but everyone was going out to eat. We came home and grilled some steaks and fixed Olathe Sweet sweet corn. It was totally fab. You Oregonians don't know what you are missing. After dinner Randy & Cheri came by and we visited. I just love having them in Colorado. If they were to move I would bawl for a good long time. Jim & Angela Mc came by and picked greens with Scotty & Sara Esser and their kids. Then everyone came in and had ice cream. Nothing like chocolate ice cream to bring people together. Luke came with Jim & Ang and brought his instruments and we had an impromptu singing. It was well attended and well participated in by adults and children alike.

There was a mens meeting tonight and I told Alan he must go or I would refuse to listen to him gripe about anything for the next month. So There. So he went.

Oh I just remembered to day is a birthday for two of my very good friends from childhood and beyond. Happy Birthday Bro. Dennis & Bro. Dravin. Not that either of them ever read my blog but just in case. Dennis - you have only one year until you join the fogey crowd!

Well that is just about all I have to say at this point. Have a good week.

Finally a New Post

2008-08-12T07:28:00.001-07:00

So here the deal. We have been extremely busy this summer. Alan finished the Norwood wells for the developer, we faxed him the invoices and he sent us a check. WOW! That was fast. So for the time being we are feeling pretty wealthy!!HEE HEE. Now after I pay the bills that will be a different story.

We have moved the drill to a new site and I hope we hit water for this guy. They are almost finished building their vacation house and it would just be a bummer to have to haul water all the way up there. If we had magic water finding eyes we would just know where to drill and how deep and everyone would be happy. Unfortunately, God did not so bless us with those.

We have been setting in an awful lot of meetings this past week. Bro. Alva & Sis. Sonya have been here from Vici and he has been holding meetings. Really good meetings, but long. So we just holed up here at home last night and didn't go visiting or anything. We are trying to get some bookwork done and I am trying to put the house back together. We did have some company ourselves. Bro. Danny & Sis. Coweta Godwin from Cushing came and stayed with us a couple of days. They are a bit older than Alan & I and have kids our age, but we sure enjoyed them being here and visiting with us. We had two babtized last week, one boy from Vici and Bro. Alva's Son in Law from Delta. It was so nice to see that finally happen.

On another note I purchased a new camera, because I have been unable to find mine. Well lo and behold it turned up a week after I bought the new one. But I personally feel you cannot own too many cameras. So I will just keep them both.

That is all I have to write now. Remember I Love You all and really would like you to post a comment just so I know I haven't been talking to myself!!

This That & The Other Thing

2008-07-25T10:32:00.000-07:00

This has been a fairly busy week in the McCracken Camp. Alan has completed 2 of the six wells has contracted for one developer and several more jobs have lined up to be done hopefully before Christmas! I found out that I am really not a very good camper even with a fully equipped travel trailer. Big surprise there! It rained and was cold most of the time we were in Norwood so we spent a lot of time indoors reading & playing. Alan had to come back down in valley Wednesday night to gather supplies so the little ones and I came with him and got to stay home!!! Yah for me.

I have been spending the last few days catching up on housework and doing business books. Figured out we had enough money in the business to give ourselves a paycheck. That is always a nice thing to discover.

Stupid horses got out last night. Looks like one of them cut his leg badly and tore some ligaments so it will have to be put down this fall. It took myself and aproximately 10 neighbors and mom & dad McCracken about 45 minutes to get them pinned back up. Anybody want a horse?

Dravin & Krista Mc are supposed to be around sometime this weekend. I hope that works out. It will be nice to see them again. Their kids are so much fun and my boys have a blast with them.

Alans family on the McCracken/Pfister side are having a family reunion this weekend so I need to make some things to take to it. Probably brownies and sandwiches as that is the easiest. You all know what a gourmet chef I am.

Mom mc & Cendie are going to Wash next week for the Beach Party. Wish I could go too. But that is highly unlikely. Do I sound jealous? Perhaps this winter we will make it that direction.
I should probably get off of here and make some lunch as Alan & the boys are on their way home. Love you all please leave and comment and let me know you visited.

Learning to Speak Spanglish

2008-07-15T10:42:00.000-07:00

This year as I have said, I will be homeschooling Tyler & Mason. One of the things we all want to accomplish is to learn how to speak Spanish. I purchased from Rosetta Stone Spanish (Latin America) levels 1 & 2. It arrived last night and I have been messing around with it since. This morning Alex says "Mama I want to learn to speak English too." So I guess that is my next job. To teach Alex how to speak English!

On a different note. We have been extremely busy with our well drilling business this summer. We are supposed to go to Norwood and drill 10 wells for a developer there. So we will be borrowing a camp trailer to live in for a couple of weeks and we will stay up there until the jobs are done. I am not very outdoorsy, but I will be a trouper and report back to everyone my survival tips. Some of you are old hands at this so any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I got to meet Sis. Laurie & Family this last weekend. That was very nice. I guess I didn't meet the whole family as I beleive she has a bunch of boys, but did meet Raine and the dad.

Day Trip to Ouray, Colorado

2008-07-01T17:27:00.000-07:00

Today I took the kids(except Tyler) up to the hot springs pool in Ouray. For those of you who do not live around here it is pronounced U-Ray. We had the best time. Alex & Amy wore water wings and floated everywhere. Of course Alex, being the brave little man, decided after about 5 minutes that he did not need those silly things and took them off! I guess having a pool here at the house has really helped in that area because he was swimming pretty well without them.

It amazes me how social my kids are sometimes. Alex and Emily both had no problem finding a little buddy to hang out with while we were there. Amy & Mason hung out with me. Mason had to do the lap test to go in the deep water (AGAIN)! He couldn't remember the name of the guy who gave him the test 2 years ago so they made him do it over. He can swim pretty well, but it is a hard test (I dont know if I could pass it!) Thankfully once you are over 13 Yrs you don't have to take it at all! He was pretty slow but he passed. I told the lifegaurd the reason he was so slow on the back stroke was because his arm is crokked (sp) from a break he had when he was 6, he passed anyway, I was pretty pleased with him for sticking with it.

My Dad showed up after we had been there 3 hours. He is in town (ouray) for a week at a small family reunion with some of his brothers. They have rented a lodge 10,000 square feet for a week! It is pretty neat inside. I stopped by and took a look at it on the way out of town. I think dad is going to stay with us a couple of weeks this summer. It should be fun. He does seem kind of lost without mom though. It feels weird that she is not here too. This was a trip she was very excited about taking, and when it came to the end, she told him he better go himself!! So he did.

Alan's business is really taking off this summer. (Thanks for all the prayers). In this line of work it is either feast or famine. So if I'm fat when you see me next you will know we had a good year! On the other hand, I do like being skinny!

Frollicking in The Pool

2008-06-25T14:23:00.000-07:00

The above are pictures of my kids playing in our pool. This has turned out to be a very wise investment. I do have to put pool shock in it once a week because it gets so much use, but we are all really enjoying this new toy! Alan hates to get in it because the water is still very cold and he is so skinny that he freezes instantly, unlike his wife whose abundance of personal insulation keeps her toasty (more or less) for 1/2 an hour. The kids swim in it for hours on end. Maybe Alan & I are just getting old!

Yeah For ME!

2008-06-19T13:51:00.000-07:00

I need lots of atta girls for this one.

This morning I devoted all of the morning to finishing Arlenes Wedding Veil and guess what???I actually got it DONE.

When Cindie & Arlene went to pick out her wedding dress they so graciously invited Emily & I along. She ended up picking the dress that I loved the absolute most. It honestly looks like it was made just for her. Anyway when she put it on the final time at the shop the gal put a veil on her and she just looked incredibly beautiful, I actually started getting teary eyed over the whole thing. So I asked her if I could make her veil and she (being the trusting soul that she is)said I could.

Fast Forward to the last few weeks. I have been slowly but surely sewing the lace on and had the longest part of it complete and was stumped about how to do the top but this morning it kind of came to me (in a flash of brilliance no less) and I got it all sewed together. It looks lovely on her and really hope that she likes it. And yes, I did get all weepy all over again. Arlene was a junior bridesmaid in mine and Alans wedding and it is so sweet that Emily gets to be a flower girl in hers.

I will probably be bawl baby at the wedding, but thats alright cause thats what over emotional aunts are for. I must get this all out of my system before any of my own dear children decide to leap from the nest!

The very bad, horrible, no good morning!

2008-06-17T07:24:00.000-07:00

Well I certainly am not going to win any mother of the year awards now!! Lets see where to begin.

First of all I spent most of yesterday in Grand Junction picking up clothes for the kids and a blouse for Mom McCracken to where to Arlenes wedding, then I picked up Wade & McKenzie from Vel's house to take them back to Grandma McCrackens, then I stopped by Tonya Wilsons to pay for mom & dads 50th Anniversary cake. So on the way through Delta I stopped at this convience store that sells milk for $6 for 2 gallons, which would be a very good deal if the milk we not spoiled!!!

I love birds as much as anyone, but they start singing LOUDLY at my bedroom window at 4:45 every morning! So of course I get up and shut the windows and try to get back to sleep. Dosen't work!
I didn't discover until late last night that the milk was bad (both gallons), I got up at 6:00 and drove to Olathe and bought a new gallon of milk. Driving home, due to my own failure to really look, I was almost T-Boned on my side of the van by a huge truck!! If he had hit me I wouldn't be writing this because I most certainly would be dead now. After that narrow miss I decided to drive more carefully.

Upon arriving at the house I discover that my teenager did not in fact load the dishwasher last night, after assuring me he would. So I was very unhappy about the sink full of dirty dishes. I loaded it then took care of the laudry. The proceed to make pancakes for Alan & Tyler. Tyler didn't eat his and instead got himself a Coffee cup full of cereal and milk. "Why didn't you eat a pancake?" "Well, I didn't have time." Grrrrrr. So he gets made and DUMPS his cereal and milk into the sink (that I had just cleaned out), my you we don't have a garbage disposal, then he makes a beline for the door!! Needless to say I have not been a very happy mom this morning. Thanks for listening to my rant!

On a different note I have decided to list things that I am looking forward to.

1) Pictures that I am sure someone will post of Ashleas wedding. Since I am unable to attend.

2) Getting Arlenes veil completely finished. It is looking pretty good but I think I need to add some more lace to it.

3) Getting through Arlenes wedding week and just enjoying her day.

4) Getting through Alfred & Minnies 50th anniversary party. So I can stop worrying about it and maybe get some sleep!

5) Going to Nicole Herrmanns wedding, where I have to do is watch!

6) My 40th birthday. It means I am still alive and kickin

7) Getting my house organized and my homeschooling finalized for next fall.

8) Tyler coming home so I can apologize for being such a jerk this morning.

Cleaning, Cleaning, Cleaning

2008-06-09T13:37:00.000-07:00

Perhaps its because I have had such a cruddy year, or because it feels like the walls are closing in on me, I don't know which, but....I have started my yearly decluttering. Several people, neighbors, friends, family....have given me bags & bags and bags of hand me downs recently. That in its self is very nice, and now I have plenty of clothes for both Emily & Amy for school next year....buuuuttt... After the fifth large bag of clothes I start getting very picky with things. So today after going through all the bags and cleaning out one drawer in my own dresser, I took three very overstuffed bags of well stuff to the Salvation Army. I don't know where the mountains of clothing ends up but they happily take everything I want to dispose of.

This weekend the swamp cooler overflowed and leaked into my utility room. AAAAAAhhhh! I was not a very happy camper. All the sheets, tools, ect. had to be rewashed and the room smells terrible now. I have just about got caught up on the laundry. So, my goal for the week is to go through each of the kids' dressers and get rid of about half of the unused, too small, clothing so that the house cleaning will not take as much time. Lets see if I can do it.

I have also been diligently planning our February Hawaii cruise. That is not really work but it is what I spend a lot of time on. Our plane tickets are bought & paid for. Money to pay for the cruise itself is in the bank, so now I just need to save for activities and such. Alans dear cousin Stephanie & her sweet husband Jeramy have so graciously agreed to stay with our kids the week we are gone. Steph married my third cousin Jeremy Easter from Purcell Oklahoma. Always room for another Easter in the McCracken Clan. I need to get chore list and such done for the kids for while we are away. Another thing to add to the growing list.

Alex had a terrible flu last week. Poor little guy. He just doesn't do sick very well. He is feeling better now and went back to Summer School today. He is really enjoying that. There are only 5 kids to each teacher, so he is learning a bunch.

The kids are loving the new swimming pool. It is very cold water though so I don't manage to stay in very long. I don't think Alan has been in it at all. Hopefully it will get warmer soon so we can enjoy it.

I must go now and get busy with more cleaning. You all have a nice week.

DANGEROUS WITH A CREDIT CARD PART II

2008-06-02T19:56:00.000-07:00

Today I made an executive decision. Given the high price of gas and the many childern I have and the fact that the temp is near 90 during the afternoon, I went to walmart and bought a POOL. Yep, thats me. Give me a credit card and a reason and I'll just whip that puppy out! It took us all afternoon and evening to set it up and it is still filling. I don't imagine it will be full until the wee hours. It is 18 feet diameter & 4 ft high. That is going to be one huge water bill. HMMMM. Maybe I should have thought about that little detail.

Anyway the kids are so excited about it and so is their momma.

I was sick Thurs, Fri, & Sat of last week with a flu so intense and a fever so high that I thought my head was going to pop off my shoulders! But I am feeling much better now. Had my dear husband quite worried though. I will try to post pictures soon of the childern frolicking in the pool!! I just love that word! Frolicking, Frolicking, Frolicking!

In Loving Memory of My Mother Sister Deanie Easter

2008-05-22T13:52:00.000-07:00

My mother passed away Tuesday May 15, 2008. Her family had gathered around her bedside and we were able to hold her hand through this time. She was such a wonderful beautiful lady. I will miss her terribly. I thank God that I had the time with her that I did. She had a lovely funeral service in Tulsa where many brethern and friends attended. Later in the day she had a graveside service at Parkland Cemetary. Bro. Bill Porter & Bro. Danny Godwin officiated the services. We were blessed during mothers last days to have the help of many of our family. Moms Aunt Virginia James from New Mexico came and cared for her, as well as Aunt Joy Easter, Uncle Carl & Aunt Wanda James and many others. My sisters and I bathed her a day or so before she died. It was an honor to care for her in her own home.

Many brethern came and brought food while we were there. Bro. Bill & Sis. Marcelle were such a big help to our family. As were Bro. Danny & Sis. Coweta Godwin. Many more brethern than I could possibly name visited and helped us so much. Beth & Robert pulled their 5th Wheel over for Alan & I to stay in. It made things so nice for us. Alan got up each morning after mom died and set and had coffee with my Dad. Dad was only sleeping about 4 hours a night and he really needed the company. Please pray for him. I know he is going to be so lonely without her.

The night before the funeral we stayed with Colin & Teresa. What a blessing it is to have friends like that. I feel like I have riches untold when I see all of the friends I have. We love you Colin & Teresa. We love everyone of you who have helped us through this trial.

Back Home Again

2008-05-05T09:10:00.001-07:00

This is Monday. I have been working all morning trying to get the house back to livable conditions. Being gone for a week can sure take its toll on a place, especially when you leave a husband & four childern at home. So far I have done the kitchen, cleaned the living room done two loads of laundry, and have done quite a bit of decluttering as I worked, so things are starting to shape up. I sounded like a drill sargent this morning before the kids left for school. I made Tyler & Mason clean & vaccum their room. I can't stand it when things get so totally out of whack. Most of you know me personally & I have never been that picky of a housekeeper, but as I get older I seem to be leaning more in that direction. It's about time!!

The trip out to Oklahoma was very good. Amy behaved so well on the way out and it was great when we got to the hospital where mom was, Amy was the first person she saw when she woke up. It made my mom so happy! The doctors had planned on doing exploratory surgery on Mom on Monday morning (basically they were going to use her as a guinea pig), but my sister & I discussed it and we both didn't feel like mom would make it out of surgery alive. Sooooo after speaking with my dad about it the family decided to take her home and care for her there. I beleive that is why I felt so pressed to go to Oklahoma when I did. She & Daddy were both so happy when we got her home. It was such a beautiful thing. My moms aunt is staying with them indefinately.

It was good to get to visit with my mom. I had the opportunity to speak to her alone for a while and was able to get some things worked out that I had let set for many years. I know without a doubt that mom loves me. I think I often wondered about that. The night before I left I set next to her and held her and she kept kissing me and telling me how much she loved me & my kids. I don't care how old a person gets, sometimes we just need to hear that from our Mommy's.

The ride home with Sis. Carolyn was wonderful. We had such a nice visit. The trip from Sapulpa to my house only took us 13 1/2 hours. And we did not speed. We took a great short cut through the backroads of Texas.

I don't think that I will get to see my mom again before she passes. She is very very ill. But I know that she loves me and that is all that really matters to me right now. I am so thankful she is at home. Thank you all for your prayers

Going Back to Oklahoma

2008-04-26T12:32:00.000-07:00

My mom is very ill and I will be leaving for OK in a couple of hours. Please keep me and Sis. Carolyn Cunningham in your prayers. I am taking Amy and the rest of the kids will be staying home. I don't know if I will make it there in time to speak to Mom again but if I do please remember to pray for me that I will speak whatever the Lord gives me to and to keep my mouth shut when I need to also. Love You All.

Paperback Swap

2008-04-24T07:39:00.000-07:00

I stumbled across the neatest website last week. It is called paperbackswap.com. What you do is post ten books that you are willing to swap and they give you 2 credits immediately to use. Then as people request your books and you mail them to them you get another credit. 1 book = 1 credit. The great thing is there are over 2 million books posted and more added daily. You also have a wish list where you can request books. That way if someone post one you want you get an email asking if you want to order it. It doesn't cost anything except for postage to mail out your book to the next person. It has tons of great features. I have sent off 9 books since last Thursday and have seven coming to me. I have already received two books. Its such a great way to acquire books you want, and to get rid of those you don't need any longer. You girls should take a look at the site and tell me what you think.

A Decision Finally Made

2008-04-14T09:30:00.000-07:00

This weekend after much discussion, thought & prayer, Alan & I decided to homeschool Tyler & Mason through Jr. High & Highschool. I don't really know what kind of homeschool. Knowing me I would say loosely structured. I could sure use any advice or encouragement you lovely homeschool moms might have. I'm a little nervous, but I am very happy with the choice. The boys have been lobbying for this for a couple of years. The little kids will continue on in public school through elementary. Or until I change my mind.

We live a very spontaneous life. It would be so nice to just up and run to Brewster or Eugene or Oklahoma for a week or two without having to notify the government. I know that Alan really needs Tylers help with the business this fall & winter, and Tyler needs to learn all he can from his dad. Mason is a sweet & gentle soul and school was destroying him. I think my biggest fear was losing my time to myself. But I will have plenty of that when they are grown!!

I was happy to hear that Rusty & Dennis went to pray for my mom this morning. She did not do well yesterday with the flying and her legs had began to swell. I am not out there so if any of you sisters see her and feel that there is something I should be told or whatever please, please send me an email, I check it frequently. Beth is going to try to keep me updated. At this point it is just so hard to know what to do. A sister from GJT called me this morning and said that yesterday in church the Lord put it in her mind to take me to see my mom. I really didn't know what to say to that as we had just been to Oklahoma and my mom is with Cindy & Connie now so I told her I thought mom was doing better, but we would pray about it and see how we felt later. Then I spoke with Beth & found out that mom wasn't as well as I had beleived. I trust this sister from GJT completely and I truly beleive that the Lord gave her that instruction, however, I don't know if it is for right now or for after mom gets back to OK. Please pray for me that I will know what to do. Thanks, JoAnn.

Notable Night!!

2008-04-11T12:39:00.000-07:00

Last night upon returning from church we found that ALL of the cows were out!! Alan, (in his great wisdom)decided that they would not wander far and would be fine until the morning. I thinnk he was really just very tired and did not want to mess with it. Soooo Anyway. This morning they were all gone! He and the big boys had to go hunt them down and chase them back in. What a wonderful start to the day.

At 7:30 this morning Angela Mc had a baby boy!! Finally!! She was about 2 1/2 weeks overdue. His name is Kyle Douglas and he is 8 1/2 lbs. Very adorable. Alan & I made the pilgramage over to greet the new prince at 8:45 (hey, we were very excited). After seeing that he was wearing a purple baby cap, I made a trip to Target and picked up the cutest little boy things. They should fit him for 2 or 3 weeks. The kid needed clothes! Also on the shopping list were chocolates for Angela. She was quite happy with that. I do plan to not go back again at least until tomorrow, although the kids will be home a 4:00 and you just know they are going to want to see the baby. It is so awesome when a sister has a healthy, happy baby. Gives you so much confidence that the faith will continue.

The Lord has blessed us all with Trinas little Boaz, Dixies little Holly, Tereasas B.'s little Cassidy, Gracies little Mariah, and now little Kyle!! WOW!! All within the last month. Pretty amazing isn't it?

Weeeeee're Baaaaack!!

2008-04-07T11:41:00.000-07:00

I am sure you all are very excited to here from me again!!LOL!! We just returned home from Oklahoma last Saturday night. It was a fun and very exhausting trip. We left home on Friday the 26th. After arriving at my Sister Beth's home that night, we got the grand tour of their new home and then we fell into a deep sleep (after they so graciously gave us their bedroom for the night). We left from their house Saturday morning and spent the day with my other sister Cindy & her family at a place called "Incredible Pizza". The place is a fun park type place with games, go-karts, bumper cars not to mention unlimited pizza, ice cream, soda, saled & pasta!! My kids thought they were in Heaven. Alan and I really enjoyed our day with the family, but if you ever go there bring lots of cash. It is an incredibly expensive pizza experience. But a ton of fun.

We went to church at Sapulpa, set in a very good meeting, then went to some bretherns home for dinner. Which was absolutely delicious! Afterwards we hustled back to the church for Bro James & Sis. Barbaras 50th Wedding Anniversary party. There were about 250 people there. It was a nice party all done up in Pink & Black like a 50's soda shop. Their kids did a lot of work to make it extra special for them. I got to see many of my friends from my teenage years there and that was wonderful. For some reason everyone is looking quite young, none of us looked like we have aged at all.

I got to see Julie and her family. Was going to try to make it over to their place but ran out of days. The picture above is of Emily and Taylor. They were in first grade together for a time and are very good friends and cousins.

I was able to spend a few days with my folks. Mom is still very sick and in need of prayers. The brethern have been so good to check on them. I am so thankful for everyones kindness.

On Tuesday night we went to Jeff & Sylvias for dinner. Our kids had a blast playing with their kids. We had a great visit with them and Bro. Wes & Sis. Angie. Sylvia is a dear friend without whom I am sure I would not have survived my growing up years. How's that for schmoozing?

Wednesday we meandered down route 66 to OKC to see Sam & Skye. Why you ask, did we not take the turnpike. Because my husband hates to pay to drive on the turnpike and was determined that we could go all the way on the backroads. He was very insistent so I let him have his way. We almost made it too!

We visited my Uncle & Aunt, and then on to Alans brothers house. Spent time with Sam & Skye and kids in City, went to the zoo. Will write more later as I am getting tired.

Been Sick

2008-03-24T09:11:00.000-07:00

Well of all the weekends to get the flu bug. The Lewis Family in this area planned this big Easter Dinner at the church Sunday. All of Uncle Ray & Aunt Wanda's family was here except for Doug's. Plus Bill& Beckys Boys came down. And it was Zacks bday. But this mean old flu bug visited again. I was in no condition to go anywhere. Saturday I had bad chills and fever, Sunday headache and fever. Today I am much better, but still feel pretty week. But looking on the Pollyanna side of things, I did lose six pounds!! Nothing like forced fasting to jumpstart your diet!

DANGEROUS WITH A CREDIT CARD

2008-03-21T13:23:00.000-07:00

You do not want to set me loose with a credit card! I just managed to spend almost 4,000 in 20 minutes. Thats about how long it took me to book airline tickets for Alan & I and My sis and her hubby for Hawaii for next Feb. We booked early to avoid possible airfare increases due to fuel cost. We are sooo excited about this trip. We will be cruising the Hawaiian Islands on NCL. It is to celebrate our 15th anniversary and their 20th. Now time to start that diet & exercise program. Weight Watchers here I come!!

So Much to do So Little Time

2008-03-20T13:56:00.000-07:00

I have finally found my camera usb cord and managed to transfer some photos. The first is of my mom. Her color is not real good here and she need prayers. We are going to see her again soon.

The second is of Alex and his airplane that his dad made. What a cutie he is. I just love my little guy. He has such personality. I am in the middle of spring cleaning, but still have so much to accomplish.

Sis. Teresa B. called this morning to let me know she had a baby girl at 8:40 last night. So I ran over to see her. Baby is healthy and beautiful. Now I am waiting for word on Dixie, Angela, and of course Trina. Time to do some gift shopping. I just love little babies, don't really need another one myself. But I love spoiling everyone elses.

Alan & I took a quick trip to Las Vegas to pick up a diesel motor he had purchased on ebay. We only paid 431. for it and with the trip cost we have less than 1,000 dollars invested in it. Well today he was working on it and it started up perfect. We are so thankful for this because we need to replace the motor on the drill (deck portion) so that he can make some money and we thought we were going to have to spend like 5,000 or more to fix it.

So this is what is happening around our place. Hope to here from you all soon.

O Happy Day

2008-03-16T16:36:00.000-07:00

We had a great meeting today at Delta. After church Bro. Randy & Sis. Cherie N. came over for dinner. Then we get a call that there will be a babtizing for Trey Byers (who had attended Montrose Church today) at 4p.m. so we hustle around for that. Montrose Brethern and Delta Brethern use the same babtizing hole, and are mostly all related to one another. So there was a great mix of the assemblies there. We got down there and it was freezing cold, and the wind was blowing. But it went very well and then April Easter from Delta gave her hand for Bro. Bobby Easter to babtize her. So we are all very happy. The ordinance supper will be at Montrose at 7:30 tonight for both of them. Sometimes the spirit works thing in such a way that we couldn't possibly fathom and makes everything so beautiful. It makes me so happy to see the two assemblies working in unity together for good. Love You All.

Emily

2008-03-14T08:35:00.000-07:00

This little beauty is my daughter Emily. She was all dressed up for a wedding. Her teeth have grown in since, but basically she looks the same. This is the one I begged God for. Still she was a great surprise. I just figured I would have all boys. Em is very much a girly girl. She loves clothes, the more the better. Shopping, preferably with only mom. She is teaching herself the piano and is getting pretty good at it. But, she also likes to play outside in the dirt with the boys, jump on the trampoline, ride bikes and wrestle with her brothers. Em is now 8 1/2 years old. Her birthday is in Nov so she will just be starting third grade.

Some people say she looks like me. What do you all think? Poor Baby.

Alex's Airplane

2008-03-11T09:15:00.000-07:00

Alex is 5, almost 6 years old. He has no interest in learning his alphabet, counting, reading, coloring etc..however he does love bugs, trains, airplanes & PE. I took him to the library recently and he asked for as many books on airplanes as they would let him take. He told the libraian that he and his dad were going to build an airplane, because his dad could build anything. So after pouring over his books this past week he convinced his dad to build one. Alan is a typical farmboy and can build anything with bailing wire and a two by four. So he proceeded to build an airplane for Alex. Alex is so proud of that plane. It is very large & heavy, because it is made from a two by four, but Alex doesn't seem to mind. He put a star sticker on his dad's hand and said "you are my best friend dad cause you made an airplane""now can you buy me a remote control one." Well Alan got all choked up over that. When he and I were in town yesterday we found a remote control one for 30 bucks and bought it for his birthday. Hopefully it will fly.

It continually amazes me how every one of my childern are different from the others. Not just a little bit. They don't act like they come from the same parents. It is always an adventure around here.

Many Hands Make Light Work(well sorta)

2008-03-08T15:12:00.000-08:00

Today was meat cutting day at Alfred & Minnie McCracken's (Alans PA & MA). We woke up at the ridiculous hour of 7:00 am, to Alan trying to heard the cows back up to our house. It seems that someone left the electric fence down and they decided to tootle off to the feed yard 1/2 mile from our place. So after that exciting start to our day, we headed to mom & dads.

We grow our own beef and process it ourselves with Randy & Cheri, Roger & Cendie, Mom & Dad & assorted childern. We have been doing this for several years now and every year we dread it. But when its all finished we are so happy to have a freezer full of fresh beef. Plus with so many people working on it, we get things done pretty quickly.

This year we butchered Thomas. He was a little bull that we have raised since birth, Alex named him after Thomas the tank Engine. But he had gotten a little onry so it was his time to go (watch out kids). He was a fun little calf but will be a great tasting hamburger. We worked from 9 to about 2 with a break in there for lunch. We split the meat between the four families. Now we are home and exhausted and ready for a nap.

Mason

2008-03-07T19:02:00.000-08:00

Number two son is Mason. He is eleven. Loves his music (really into bluegrass), sits next his grandma in church and sings. I just love that. Gives me warm fuzzies. He is right between little boy things & being a big kid. Such a tough place to be sometimes. Since Josiah died last January he never leaves the house without strangle hugging me and saying "Love You Mom". All of the kids are dealing with that situation in their own way. Josiah and Mason were very good friends. Mason always made time for him even though he was 3 years younger. So sad to lose a cousin.

Today after school he went back to work digging his hole. Don't know why he is doing it. It dosen't really go anywhere, but he seems to be having a great time. Mason is my academic and begs me to homeschool him again because so much of Public School is review. He says the only thing exciting is math. He excels at that. We all know how much patience I have with homeschooling, so lets just say that we won't be going there anytime soon. Tyler, however, is going to homeschool 7th grade through the summer so that he can go right into eight in the fall with his proper class. Pray for me.

Meet the Family

2008-03-07T13:58:00.000-08:00

This is our oldest child. Tyler turned 13 in Sept. Our lives have not been the same since. He is a great kids, but has serious mood swings. I hope he outgrows that soon. One minute he is happy, laughing, having fun, the next ....."Bar the Door" He gets mad, weepy, sullen. All within the space of about 5 minutes. But he is growing up quickly. Not terribly interested in girls yet, but can't wait until he gets a car and license. I'm kind of glad about the girl thing, cause I would rather put that off a while.

The picture is a bit dated. It was taken Dec. 2006 at Disneyland. But he just looks so happy there. We had such a great time on that trip. Hope to take the kids to Disneyworld in a couple of years.

Just started this blogging Thing

2008-03-07T09:50:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone. I hope that you will leave some comments here and help me figure out how to do this. I feel like I am just starting grade school & everyone else started many months before. So I will have to catch up. I have loved reading everyone elses blogs. It is such a nice way to keep in touch with all our family & friends scattered across the country. For those who don't know me I'm JoAnn McCracken. Married to Alan for 14 years. We have lived in Colorado for the past 5 1/2 years. We live on a small farm, where we raise our own beef. We have our water well drilling business that we started Feb. 2006. It is called McCracken Well Drilling, (catchy Huh?)

Our childern are Tyler (13), Mason (11), Emily (8), Alex (5), Amy(4). Hope to hear from you all soon.