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Still Alive and Well!

Sun, 25 Feb 2007 15:57:00 -0600

Well, a month is way tooooo long to go without updating this blog!
Yes, we did survive the ice storm. Our kitty, feared lost, was found hiding in the attic!!! Don't know how she got there, but she was warm and safe.
We finally got our phone and internet hooked up. It seems the phone company came through and hooked it up WRONG! (Since we have cable internet, phone, etc) So that has been straightend out! Whew! How does one survive without internet?
And the city came through and picked up our piles of brush. Of course, I got photos of our street beforehand.
Wish I'd gotten pics of the ice on the trees, before clean up. But when we saw what was coming we left town!

Gary did come back first (to work), and he found a big pile of limbs right where his little white car is usually parked. Fortunately he moved it to the only space on our block without any trees -- the side of our yard along the side street.
You can see the pile of limbs (neatly stacked by Adam and his crew -- see below). It's as big as our car!!!

Late Breaking News!!!!

Fri, 19 Jan 2007 16:21:00 -0600

Well, as some of you know, we are in the midst of one of the worst storms in Southern Missouri history!!! Starting last Friday night (Jan. 12th) rain began freezing on the trees and power lines. Here at our house, the power went off after supper. Of course, this means we also have no heat. So we bundled up and hoped for the best. Our church had an Angel Food Distribution scheduled for the next day. Since, I'm kinda in charge of that, I had to go!!!

All night we listened to the trees creak, crack and crash! I made the remark to Gary that it was lightning. He responded that no . . . . .those were the transformers on the power lines blowing! We woke up Saturday to a wonderland. The roads weren't all that bad, so we set out for church. We had to back up and go around downed trees and power lines several times. Miraclulously, the church had power! We proceded with the distribution and saw that the weather was not improving! We quickly packed and left town. We headed for my parents in Ava, MO.

That was a week ago and guess what???? We're still here! We are still without power or heat. Yet, we are thankful. We have no trees on our roof or house. Our meter-loop is still intact and waiting for hook-up. And we had a place to go -- my mom did not get any ice at any time!!

I also have a job down here -- at my folks' Income Tax Preperation Office. I was planning to work/be here anyway. The girls have a sitter and Ginny is enrolled in a small A beka school here (Mt. Zion). Something else that happened this week: Gary's store is closed. Permanently. He was offered a job at another store near our house, though it pays a bit less than the Manager job. Still, he is employed!!

My brother-in-law, Adam has been busy with his Disaster Relief/chainsaw ministry. In fact, he was interviewed for the 10pm news and he was standing IN OUR BACK YARD! You can watch a video of the news clip by clicking here. You will see the story and can click "View Video" to see the news story. Sorry I didn't get any other pictures of our house, but we just weren't home!

Early December SURPRISE!

Thu, 28 Dec 2006 20:01:01 -0600

I suppose it was not exactly a surprise. For about a week before the 1st of December the weathermen had forecast snow and ice. Some said 2 inches. Some said to expect 12 inches!
So the day came. It all began around 6 am as I awoke to the sound of chirping smoke detectors. Now given the type of smoke detectors we have, that only means one thing -- a power outage!!!
Since the forecast was for ice I did expect some type of power outage, but I really was surprised that it went off at the BEGINNING of the storm. By 7am, our friend Cheyanne Horning arrived at our doorstep. School was dismissed just as all the students arrived and her parents were already at work. Around noon, the weather began to look worse, our power was still out, and I was worried about the possibility of spending the night without heat! So we loaded up with Hornings and went to their house (with power and heat) for the night! The next morning Ginny and Grace had a fabulous time sledding and playing in the snow. We had about 3 or 4 inches of ice and another 3 or 4 inches of snow.
Here are some pictures. They are not as good as I would like. But I didn't discover the right setting on this new camera until AFTER I took these pictures.

Thanks-Giving

Sat, 23 Dec 2006 16:03:00 -0600

Okay, I know I'm about a month behind here but I just had to show you these things from our Thanksgiving day. It was wonderful that all of us (including a wide-awake Gary!) could go to Ava and spend the day with Grandma, Uncle Adam, Aunt Genessa, and Cousin Keeton. Granny Bill-bill (Billie) was away visiting family, but we still couldn't resist jumping on her bed!

Before the big day, we talked about the history of Thanksgiving and what it means to be thankful. Ginny loves crafts so we made table placecards for the meal which looked like little Indian teepees. The paper bag turkey is compliments of cousin Keeton.

We also made Indian costumes from grocery bags. Squanto has NOTHING on us!

Grandma set down to read a book about the Pilgrims and Indians to the children. No sooner had Keeton seen the pictures he shouted, "Look Grandma! That's Cheif Massasoy!" Grandma was sure impressed with a four-year-olds knowledge of Indians!
It was a great day and we have much to be thankful for!

Fall Festival

Thu, 7 Dec 2006 21:36:00 -0600

Our church recently had a Fall Festival for the children of the community. It is a fun night full of carnival games, prizes and candy. Since it is on Halloween, some of the children dress up in costumes. Ginny decided that they should wear costumes this year, so we raided the "dress-up closet." And this is what we came up with--a Cinderella Princess!!
Actually, we had two Cinderellas, becuase of course someone wanted to look like big sister!
It was a really fun night!

See any squirrels up there?

Fri, 3 Nov 2006 18:50:00 -0600

For those of you who know my sister, Genessa, and her husband, I'll post this here. They seem to be a little busy at the moment!
This past year they began working with our Baptist Association's Disaster Relief Team. They were trained to use equipment like as large chainsaws to clear brush and trees following a storm. This is a big help to power and other utility companies, emergency crews and a big relief to residents themselves. Genessa and Adam have been dispatched from everything including local tornado sites to New Orleans following the hurricanes. They have also helped cook meals for displaced residents.
This week they are assisting the clean-up of the Buffalo, New York snow storms. The local paper took this photograph of two nuts in a tree. You may recognize the yellow nut (Adam).

The man to the left is from the Joplin area.
Where was Genessa when this picture was taken? I don't know. But I feel chances are good that she was not to far behind with a leaf blower!!!!! Go Sis!!!!
I understand that it is very muddy and wet there and still snowing!
I've also heard that Niagra Falls is beautiful this time of year!
Have a safe trip coming home, you guys!

Hello again!

Thu, 2 Nov 2006 21:56:00 -0600

Okay, I know it's been awhile since our last post. Things have just been insanely busy around here! Then add to that computer problems which caused me to lose my ability to log in at several sites!
But we're back!
For those of you who don't know the latest big news, Gary was involved in an auto accident about 2 weeks ago. He was fine, but the car was not! He was traveling along I-44 and an accident occured in front of him. People tried to stop, but there was a chain-reaction type pile-up. The air bag in Gary's car activated and he only recieved scratches. His car was demolished (front-ended). And we had no (collision) insurance, so pray we can replace the vehicle inexpensively.
But praise the Lord for airbags!

Angel Food

Fri, 15 Sep 2006 22:42:00 -0500

Ok. I know I have been quiet here wayyyy to long! We have just been extremely busy here the last few weeks.
For one thing , I have been appointed the head of a new ministry at our church -- Angel Food Ministries. Have you heard of it? Basically, it is a food co-op type buying program. For $25 a month, you get a large box of high quality food that will feed a family of 4 for a week. Our box can even last longer! Each month the box is a little different but most contain at least 10 pounds of meat, one quick pre-fixed meal, frozen veggies, rice/beans/pasta, breakfast items, a dessert, and eggs.
The food is shipped to different host sites across the country, like ours. I am in charge of taking orders and organizing the Distribution Day, when people come to pick up their food.
So quick! Go to the website, look for a host site near you and take advantage of this program if you can. I highly recommend it!
You can find the current menu by clicking here . You can find a list of host sites, other than ours, listed by state. Click here for host sites. The home page address is www.angelfoodministries.com
If you have any questions just e-mail me and maybe I can help ! I really love to talk about this!
Blessings!

Someone's in the Kitchen . . .

Tue, 8 Aug 2006 23:05:00 -0500

All right. You've asked for it!
Here is THE desert that's been making its way to church dinners, potlucks, and the dinner table at my house this summer. A nice treat when it's 194 degrees in the shade with an infinite heat index!

Banana Split Pie~~~

One prepared Graham cracker pie crust (though I use an oreo crust)

1 package of Jello White Chocolate pudding (can use sugar free)
1 3/4 cup milk
3 bananas
1 small can crushed pineapple VERY well drained
8 oz of Cool Whip Lite
Strawberries or cherries (optional)
1/4 cup or so of pecans (optional)

In a small bowl wisk pudding and milk. Chill for about 10 minutes. Spoon pudding into the crust. Top with slices of bananas. Spread pineapple over bananas. Top with Cool Whip. (Don't ya' love that stuff!)
Top that with the cherries or strawberries and sprinkle with nuts.
This is one of those things you can make soooo many ways and they are all soooo good.
I used to buy a small box of strawberry and creme pudding and put that on top of the pineapple. Then sprinkle with just a few chocolate chips. Then layer the cool-whip. (If you can find this pudding, I suggest to make it w/ 1 cup of milk.)
Ummmm . . ..
And if you use the sugar free options with skim milk. It's not THAT naughty!
Enjoy!

The Fun Begins

Wed, 2 Aug 2006 22:33:00 -0500

This last week, we have studied the letter A at our house. We learned the phonetic sounds, wrote A's, made apple pie, apple sauce, read apple books, learned about Johnny Appleseed, and counted apples! Our Bible Theme was "If you stick with Jesus you will bear lots of fruit." We also made apple print shirts complete with the letter A!

Or course, Grace also had to get in on the act! Whenever we did our letter sounds Grace was right beside us saying, "A, A, A!