Still Alive & Kicken'

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.