Merry Christmas Eve

Hello from Thunder Bay. We arrived yesterday afternoon around 2:30. We had a good trip in that we arrived here safetly. We did drive through a lot of rain and some snow, but we made it! Isaiah did well also. Matt's arrived a few hours after we did yesterday and Brandon and Cindy flew into Minneapolis and are driving here as I type. Then we will all be here together for five days! Would you believe we came all the way to Canada for Christmas and they don't have any snow. :( We're hoping that once we're all here it will snow. We'll I think it's about time for a Settlers game so I'd better get off. I'd love to hear updates from the families in Red Lake. Rachel and Rhonda I'm thinking of you not being with your familes. I hope you still have a good day. Merry Christmas to you all!

On Saturday the guys helped their dad put in new cupboards in their mom's kitchen. Isaiah thought they made great hiding places.

I guess it's time for an update. Thanks for the all the 8 comments on the last post. I thought only Rachel ever got 8 comments! :) I don't use any "product" in my hair, so I can't really answer your question Robyn.

This past weekend we had "Christmas" with Jeremy's family. We enjoyed catching up with everyone and especially getting to know little Lydia. What a sweetie! Isaiah basically ignored her. :) Isaiah had a rather hard weekend. He slept great the first night, but didn't take very long naps on Saturday and then woke up crying at 6:00 am on Sunday morning. He never wakes up like that at home. We couldn't get him to calm down. He woke the whole house up. :( He just wasn't himself all day which made our day rather stressful. When we got home I realized he had a low fever. Not much, but it helped explain why he was having a rough day. He's not sick, but he's been working on cutting a tooth for a couple weeks now so I think that's what's bothering him. He slept much better last night and took good naps today. I can tell he's still not "normal", but at least he's sleeping! Don't get me wrong we still have a good weekend. We feel very blessed to have such wonderful families!

Tonight we had our family Christmas. Nothing too major, but it was special all the same. Isaiah got a pair of sunglasses (very cute!), a book and a box of duploo legos (guess who suggested those. :)) He is really getting into opening gifts. The only problem is that he thinks all gifts are for him!

This is turning into a book. I'll sign off and maybe post a picture. Have a great week!

Cheeks!

Christmas!

Sorry for the long silence. Thank you to all that left comments about gifts for neighbors! I think I'm going to give them Friendship bread since I have A LOT of it.

I still have a few Christmas presents to buy, but I'm getting close to being done. I still need something for my almost 2 year old niece. Any suggestions? I love shopping and I love Christmas, but I'm not enjoying all the crazy crowds you have to fight to do any shopping. Jeremy has kept Isaiah for me a couple of times and that has been a huge help.

Yesterday I spent part of the day at my Lehman Grandparents house. Robyn, we made your truffles! Wow, are they ever good! I keep reminding myself that I may not have many more years left to enjoy my Grandparents so I need to make the most of my time with them. Isaiah loves playing with their toys and also enjoys watching birds and squirrels in their backyard.

The biggest news in our family is the addition of a new niece! Congratulations to Jonathan and Lori on the birth of their daughter, Lydia Grace. We are very anxious to see her! Maybe next weekend.

I'm supposed to be cleaning my house today so I'd better get back to it. We leave 2 weeks from today for Thunder Bay! I'm very excited to be there, but I am a little nervous about the trip. We'll be traveling on the 22nd and 23rd so please pray for us. Matt and Heather will be traveling around the same time and Brandon and Cindy will get there on the 24th. We'd all love a white Christmas, but hopefully not until we all get there. :)

Happy simple, relaxing Christmas to you all!

Christmas and Neighbors

LaRonda, you have inspired this post! (you need to get yourself a blog!:)) I just read LaRonda's comment on Robyn's blog about taking fruit baskets to their neighbors for Christmas. I've been trying to think of something special we could do for our neighbors for Christmas this year. I'm looking for something that isn't too expensive. I know cookies, bread, or candy are always a big hit. What do the rest of you do, if anything, for your neighbors? I've also been feeling lately that I need a new passion for reaching out to those that don't know Christ. How can I reach out to those around me this Christmas with more than just a neighborly visit?

First Doughnut

We gave Isaiah a doughnut this morning for the first time. He held onto it and sucked on it for at least 5 minutes. He loved it! What fun I had cleaning his high chair!

Black Friday -dumb

I'm just writing a quick note to say that our world has a serious problem with greed! Or maybe it's just the desire to find a bargain. I'm not sure. "Black Friday" was a new thing to me when I moved to PA and since I usually had to work it never meant much to me. Well, this was the first year that I wasn't working or nursing a baby so I decided to venture out. There are some outlet stores about 45 minutes from here so I decided to go with my aunt and 3 cousins to check out the sales. They were opening from 12 -midnight to 8:00 am. We planned to get there around 12. The rest of the world planned to get there around 12 as well. For those of you from the area, we sat on 70 for almost 2 hours and moved less that 2 miles. It was completely nutso. Once we got to our exit we realized that everything was backed up in all directions and we could see that there probably wasn't any parking left. We decided to turn around and come home. I crawled into bed at 2:30 with no bargains to show for it! Next year, I'm going to Canada!

This picture is a good representation of what Isaiah is into (literally!) these days. For some reason he loves the drawer under the stove. He likes to take everything out of the drawer or get into the drawer. If you look closely you will see an empty Cheerios box, a tea towel, a fire truck and he's reaching for a basting brush that he had swiped from one of my other drawers. I feel like all I get done in a day is picking up things he empties or takes apart, but he is a joy. I love watching him explore. The other day he was "reading" a litle book while I was changing his diaper. As I watched him his eyebrows went up and down. I guess the box was a a real brow raiser! Yesterday he took some big steps (no pun intended) toward walking. He walked half way across the living room. He had a huge smile on his face the whole time. He is growing up. I washed my Bobby yesterday. I could have cried. He really can survive without me now.


In other news I feel like I am so undisciplined right now with my eating. Can anyone else identify? Do you have any tips? I know I eat because I'm stressed or bored, or every once in awhile because I'm hungry. Grrr. Christmas is just around the corner and I know that isn't going to help at all!

By the way, my husband does have a head (see previous post) :).

I've read several places that shampooing your hair everyday isn't good for it. Instead you are to use shampoo only every other day and on the off day just rinse and use conditioner. I thought this sounded like a good idea, but didn't think it would work real well for me. Well, I tried it and I was surprised to find that my hair really did feel clean! It may have been a little flatter than usual, but in my case that's not a bad thing. I suggest you all try this and then let me know what you think.

Did you know that Christmas is only 5 weeks from yesterday! I know, I feel off my chair too!

Well, time to spend some time with my husband. Thanks for reading (if you're still reading!) Thanks for leaving your comments too. I enjoy reading them!

Time for a post

I feel like I haven't done a very good job of updating other than posting pictures. I know you all would rather have pictures than rambling anyway so I won't feel too guilty. :)

I am posting this picture of Jeremy because I didn't get a chance to honor him on his birthday (on this blog anyway). I love when he plays piano. He plays by ear and you definitely see his artistic side come through while he's playing. I'm thrilled to call him my husband. I keep falling in love with him more and more. Sometimes I'm just amazed by it!

I'm not sure what to post so I guess I'll just start and see where we end up.

I think I've already posted some about Isaiah's birthday party on the 11th. The next day Jeremy's whole family was together to celebrate Thanksgiving. Yes, we were a few weeks early. Jonathan and Lori are due to have their baby next Saturday so we decided to celebrate early. (We're very excited to meet this little girl!)We also celebrated Jeremy and his dad's birthday. We came away once again very grateful for great families. We are truly blessed!

Anyone having a birthday where Jeremy works is to provide lunch for the whole office. So I spent most of Monday and Tuesday planning and preparing food for 20 + people. I was thrilled to do it, but I'm always a little nervous when preparing food for other people. We had plenty of food, thanksgoodness!

Friday night Jeremy and I left Isaiah with Jeremy's parents and went out for a date. Nothing too major, but it was great to do something just the two of us. We ended up shopping. We were mostly looking for Christmas ideas. Sometimes my mind just doesn't think of good ideas! I'm sure I'll have plenty of good ideas in January! :)

Saturday I left Isaiah with Jeremy and went shopping (again). This time I did find some things. I really do enjoy shopping and I love Christmas music and decorations, but people seem so stressed out and frustrated that it does take out some of the joy of the season.

Well, I've emptied my head of anything even sort of interesting to tell you. I hope you all have a great week!

Who thinks these things up??

This thing is crazy long!! I worked on it a couple mintues over the last few days. I've had a busy week so today I'm allowing myself some down time. I'll try to post an update before long.


Are you in a relationship? The best.

Do you hate more than 3 people? No

How many houses have you lived in? 10, 11, if you count the dorm at RBI.

What is your favorite candy bar? Snickers.

What are your favorite shoes? Slippers, or anything with a heel.

Have you ever tripped someone? I don't think so, unless it was a joke.

Have you ever thrown up in public? Yes, on a little airplane on the way to Sandy Lake all over my mom.

What is your favorite music genre? Christian; Most 80's stuff; don't listen to much "secular" music, but if I did it would be Celine Dion; Josh Groban (wow!)

What is your birthday? January 7

What time were you born? I'm not sure, it was a pretty busy day for me...

Do you like beer? Never tried it.

Have you ever made a prank call? Hi, is Mr. Wall there?

What is the most embarrassing CD you own? Probably my Sandi Patty CD's (stop laughing, the lady can sing!)

Are you sarcastic? Me??? Never!!!

What are your favorite colors? Black, Red, blue

How many watches do you own? 1

Summer or winter? Winter

Spring or fall? Fall, for sure.

What is your favorite color to wear? Black, red

Pepsi or Sprite? Pepsi

What color is your cell phone? Don't have a cell phone

Where is your second home? Grandma L's or my parents place

Have you ever slapped someone? Sadly yes, but always in fun, or because someone scared the wits out of me (Jo and Selena have seen it I'm sure).

Have you ever had a cavity? Yes (how do you Nisly kids do it?).

How many lamps are in your bedroom? two.

How many video games do you own? My husband has a few

What was your first pet? A cat.

Have you ever had braces? No.

Do looks matter? I like a person (myself included) to look like they at least thought about what they look like before they left their house. I like a person to look put together. If I'm home all day looks don't matter minutes until 10 mintues before my husband walk through the door.

Do you use chapstick? Carmex.

Name 3 teachers from your high school: Mom, Dad, and Matt

American Eagle or Abercrombie? I do have one pair of shoes that I stumbled (no pun intended) on at AE for $10.00. usually I just walk by

Are you too forgiving? I'm a peacemaker and I like people to be happy so I do forgive quickly, but I don't think that is a bad thing???

What is your favorite breakfast? Pancakes or cold cereal

Do you own a gun? no.

Have you ever thought you were in love? Yes, but knowing I was in love was (is) the best feeling of all

When was the last time you cried? Four days ago. Why did I cry? It was the start of the second day of not nursing Isaiah. The first day was so busy I didn't have time to think about it.

What did you do 3 nights ago? Watch "The Truman Show" with my husband.

When was the last time you went to Olive Garden? 3 years ago for Beckee's birthday (Beckee, are you surprised that I remembered?).

Have you ever called your teacher mom? I don't think so, but I did call Jeremy mom the other day (brain fart!)

Have you ever been in a castle? No, but I'd love to visit one someday.

What are your nicknames? Sab, Sabby, Abby, Abigail, Babe ;)

Do you know anyone named Bertha? No, but it just hit me that if you were going to have twins you could name them Bert and Bertha, how, ah, sweet!

Do you own something from Banana Republic? No

Are you thinking about somebody right now? Bertha.

Have you ever called someone Boo? Sounds like something someone from Hollywood would name their child. No

Do you own a diamond ring? Yes, and I still love the design and everything about it as much as the day it was given to me.

Are you happy with your life right now? I think so.

Does anyone like you? I feel blessed to have many friends and two great families. Yes, I think I'm liked.

What were you doing May of 1994? High School. Maybe working at Wal-Mart. can't remember

McDonald's or Wendy's? Wendy's

Do you like yourself? For the most part, but God has a lot of work to do on me yet.

Are you afraid of the dark? Sometimes.

Do you have a webcam? No.

Diamonds or pearls? Diamonds

What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Cars.

What are your favorite TV shows? we don't get any TV here, but if we did I'd watch The Price is Right, Extreme Home Makeover, Jeopardy (I like game shows)

What did you have for breakfast? Quaker Oat Bran.

What is your middle name? Lynn

What is your favorite cuisine? chocolate

What foods do you dislike? Hot peppers; soggy bread

What is your favorite CD at the moment? Anything Christmas.

What kind of car do you drive? Honda Civic.

Favorite sandwich? I don't know.

What characteristics do you despise? Complaining (I need to work on this one myself!)

What are your favorite clothes? Pajama bottoms, slippers and comfy shirt.

If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation where would you go? Europe or maybe a Christian cruise with Jeremy.

What color is your bathroom? White with Navy blue accents

Favorite brand of clothing? Anything that's cheap and fits.

Where would you want to retire to? A cabin on a lake, rocking chairs on the porch, my family within 1/2 hour, a coffe shop close by, Mayberry feeling little town just down the road, good neighbors. Is that too much to ask for?

Favorite time of day? When my work is all done.

Where were you born? Chambersburg, PA.

Favorite sport to watch? Baseball, hockey, volley ball, swimming, diving.

Are you a morning person or night owl? Morning, but I'm learning to stay up later because Jeremy is a night owl.

What did you want to be when you were little? A wife and mother, or someone famous that made lots of money.

What is your best childhood memory? Too many to remember

Eye Color? Brown

Ever been toilet papering? no.

Favorite day of the week? Thursday

Moriah with her cake

Riah and Isaiah share a birthday so we celebrated her birthday as well. She is such a little lady! (Isaiah's Grandpa Lehman shares a birthday with them too, but we celebrated his the next day.)

1 Year old!

Isaiah loved his birthday cake. His Mommy didn't think very much before putting candy on it that he is too little to eat. :( He loved the marshmallows! He stuffed so many in his mouth that we had to take the cake away. :( His party was a lot of fun. We had about 20 people here - all family. Our little house was very full, but I think everyone had fun. Isaiah received so many nice gifts! He's been having a blast playing with them all. I'll post a picture of Riah's cake soon.

Car Seats

Since Isaiah will soon be 1 we will soon be looking for a forward facing car seat. I've noticed that there are MANY different styles out there. I'm wondering if any of you mom's have any suggestions. Are there certain things you really like or dislike about your child's car seat? I'd appreciate all the advice you have! Thanks!

This and that

I guess it's time to finally post something other than pictures. Life is moving along quite quickly. Jeremy just reminded me that Isaiah will be 1 in 8 days. Where has the time gone?! In other news...

My niece Moriah's birthday is on the same day as Isaiah's so we're going to have a cake for her as well at Isaiah's party. (it's also Jeremy's dad's birthday, but we're going to celebrate his the next day) I decorated Riah's cake this morning. It's a horse head (I think that sounds awful!). It turned out pretty well if I must say so myself! This is only the second cake I've ever decorated. I really had fun doing it!

Isaiah is really starting to communicate with us in his own way. Maamaaa basically means, I need help, I need food, I want down, I want that, I don't want this, take me outside, pick me up, don't wipe my nose. He also tries to say ball, but it usually comes out bah. Dada is well on the way. He now has 4 teeth -they make him look so grown up! He refuses to walk even though we know he's able. He took 4 or 5 steps for my mom while we were in Thunder Bay. When we try to stand him up he just sits down and crawls away. He is one of the fastest crawlers I've ever seen! He loves to eat pancakes (that's my boy!), ritz crackers, graham crackers and bananas. Cheerioes and rice cereal aren't as exciting as they used to be. :(

We raked leaves today. We filled up the 9 garbage bags left in the box and still have a lot more to bag when we get more bags. Hope we don't get a wind storm.

Last week I made applesauce with my aunt. It was a first for me. I felt so domestic! :)

Yesterday I discovered a bag of potatoes that had gone bad -very bad... we're talking maggots and so on. I nearly lost my lunch and breakfast. It was awful! I don't think I'll let that happen again!

Happy Saturday night to you all.

One year ago...

I found this picture the other day while sorting through old pictures. This was taken the first Saturday in November of last year. I don't remember ever feeling that big, let alone being that big!! Isaiah was born the following Saturday.

Pumpkin Boy

I had to get a picture of Isaiah with this beautfiul mum my grandma and aunt had waiting for me when I returned from Thunder Bay. I wanted him to hold just one of the pumpkins, but of course he wanted all of them. :)

MTeC

Jeremy and his brothers competed in a race yesterday. I guess it was sort of like a triathalon, but instead of swimming they rowed. They ran 9 miles, biked 18 miles and rowed 3 or 4 miles. (If I have those numbers wrong someone please let me know). They came in second in their division! We were very proud of them! I tried to post a few more pictures, but it was taking too long. Maybe I'll add more late.

Here the guys are enjoying some hot food after the race.

Surprise

One of the ladies that also went to Thunder Bay took this picture. I almost want to cry all over again just looking at it! I don't think I'll ever forget the look on Mom's (and Dad) face. :)

Home

It's good to be home. Our trip home from Thunder Bay went well although we did have bad roads for a good part of it. Isaiah did well. He had some fussy times, but we survived. Everyone we were traveling with were very gracious and helpful. We left Thursday afternoon and when Isaiah woke up Friday morning I found a new tooth. I don't recommend traveling and cutting teeth at the same time, but he actually did quite well.

It was great to see Jeremy again. It was hard to leave Thunder Bay, but it was great to be home with him again in our little house. We have a nice relaxing weekend together. He had the house all cleaned when we got home!

I've been back for four full days already, but I'm still having trouble getting onto the swing of things. I just can't seem to get anything finished. I have no problem starting things, but finishing them is the task. Right now I'm downloading pictures from this computer to a disk. I'm afraid someday this computer will crash and our picture will be gone. I guess that's one thing I'm accomplished today. Oh yeah, and I made pumpkin cinnamon rolls this morning. Very good! If you want the recipe go Taste of Homes web site and type it in the search engine. They are great!

Isaiah had a sad thing happen last night. We realized last evening that his favorite nuk was missing a little chuck of rubber. You have to understand this nuk, it's the only one he likes. For some reason as he used it it got streched out so now it's about 10 times its original size and of course there's no way to replace it. So now he's nukless. He did cry last night when we put him to bed, but I think it was more from the tooth that's just about to come through. He's gone down for both naps today without much fuss. He does still have his favorite stuffed puppy so that helps.

Well, there's my update. There are a few of you out there, not mentioning any names, that haven't updated in a very long time!! :) your turn!

Lake Superior

Yes, it's very cold!

The Sleeping Giant

Can you see it?

Leaving

The hunters came home last night and decided we should leave today instead of tomorrow. I'm exicted to see Jeremy, but it was a little hard to realize that we are leaving today. At least this way I didn't have as much time to dread saying goodbye to my parents. Please pray for us on the way home. There is a chance we could run into some snow so please pray. Also pray for Isaiah. We're leaving around 1:00 in the afternoon so we have a lot of time on the road before bed time. He also didn't sleep real well last night. I think his teeth are bugging him. Thanks for your prayers! I'll try to update and post pictures when I get home.

I promised I'd update, but I haven't done a very good job of it! Thank you to all of you who left comments. Especially you Jeremy. :) We're missing you a lot too! Try talking to the plants if the walls get too boring. I hear that singing to plants helps them grow! :) I love you!!!

We are having a good visit here in Thunder Bay. We've taken long walks each day. What else do you expect when you're spending time with my mom. :) We're also eating a lot of really good food. Right now the ladies are playing Settlers. I didn't play because Isaiah needed to be put to bed. He is doing real well here. He is right back on his regular schedule.

I am enjoying the beauty of a Canadian fall. The leaves here are past their peak, but there are still a lot of yellow left. I'm enjoying Lake Superior very much. Even though I haven't lived here for years there is still something that makes me feel like I've come home when I'm here. I'm not sure how to describe it. I felt it as soon as we got on highway 17. I kept trying to put my finger on what I was feeling. I think it's the wilderness feel that I love. You drive down the highway and see only trees, sky, two lane highway, and a few little towns for 8 hours. Even the houses have a different design than in PA. I feel relaxed or calmed by the familour sigts. Even driving through the city is so familiar and yet so different at the same time. A lot of things I never really noticed when I lived here and yet when I see them now I remember them. I went to Wal-Mart the other day and saw people working there that worked there when I did how ever many years ago. It's hard for me to imagine that they are still doing the same thing. I'm very glad that my life has moved on. God has blessed me more than I could have ever imagined. I doubt we'll ever live in Thunder Bay, but there will always be a big part of Thunder Bay in me. I experienced joy and some pain in Thunder Bay, but I think for some of my early visits, soon after I moved, I felt the pain and had a hard time seeing the beauty that was in front of me. Not just the beaty of nature, but the beauty of what God has done for me and my family and how He used Thunder Bay and the friends we've made here to shape us. I guess to sum up I'd have to say that visiting Thunder Bay is always a little bittersweet, but lately I've been tasting a lot more sweet than bitter. Maybe there's a moral in there for all of us somewhere. :)

The Settlers game seems to be getting pretty crazy. Maybe I should go calm them down. For grandmas they can sure get wild! Time for a nice calming Gaither video. :) Thanks for reading another long post!

I can harldy believe that I am typing this post from my parents house in Thunder Bay. For those of you who didn't know, I made a very quick decision to catch a ride to Thunder Bay with some friends that were coming to go hunting with my dad. We decided on Monday that I would come and we left on Wednesday evening at 5:00. I'm glad I only had that much time to prepare because I'm not sure I could have done it if I would have had weeks to think about it. I hard and awful time just thinking about leaving Jeremy. We've never been apart for even close to this amount of time before (10 days) I was also very worried about how Isaiah would do for a 22 hour trip. Even with these fears I decided that it would be worth it to be able to surprise my parents.

It was VERY hard to say goodbye to Jeremy. I wish so badly that he was here to experience all of this with me. Thank goodness for phones and email! The decision to make this trip and now actually being apart has made me realize just how much I really love him and how much I appreciate him. Before I was married I probably wouldn't have thought that being apart for awhile would be that hard. I have sure chaned in the last 2 1/2 year!!

Isaiah did wondefully on the trip. I know there were lots of people praying. (thank you!) He slept a lot and played with a toys and ate Cheerioes and fruit snacks that my aunt sent from him. Thanks Audrey! He did start to get a little buggy about 3 hours from TB. Amazingly right about that time the service engen light came on in the van and we had to pull over to check it out. Thankfully it wasn't anything serious, but while they were checking it out I let Isaiah crawl aroud outside for a couple minutes. When I put him back in his seat he was able to soon fall asleep. I was very proud of him to say the least.

Of course the best part of the trip was getting here and seeing my parents reaction. Did I mention that they didn't know we were coming?? My mom wasn't home, but my dad was in the back yard. I think he almost cried when he say us. :) I wish I had a video of my mom's reaction. I was sitting on the couch with Isaiah when she walked in the door. She was talking to everyone else for a few seconds before she noticed us. She sreamed and then cried. (I think we all cried!) I don't think I could have asked for a better responce.

The guys left this morning for their hunting trip. Three of the wives came along we're going to spend the week relaxing. I will try to post updates often. Doesn't anyone know how to post pictures when you're away from your home computes?

I need to get off and get on with my day. Isaiah is supposed to be taking a nap, but I can here him in the next room playing so I'd better go check on him.

Sorry for the long post! thanks for reading. :)

Happy Birthday Joy!

I hope you have had a wonderful birthday. You probably spent it packing! :) Thanks for being a great friend for the last 9 (?) years! Here are some of my favorite memories...RBI (of course!), a certain motorcycle, kitchen raids, driving to RBI in a snow storm, working at RBI together, traveling to NY for a wedding, Pittsburgh for Les Miserables (wonderful!), and OH for a weekend of shopping (and noisy neighbors!), traveling to MN for your wedding, you visiting me in my little apartment in Fayetteville and lots more. Thanks so much for your friendship. You have brought much "joy" to my world. :) (sorry I couldn't resist!)

Our Weekend

Jeremy's brother, Hans, got married last evening. It was a beautiful wedding and we're thrilled to have Angela join our family. Here are a few pictures from our weekend. We spent Thursday and Friday night at Jeremy's aunt and uncle's house. Isaiah was a real trooper. We were very proud of him. We are all very tired, but it was a great weekend.

On our way home we stopped to visit our friends, Troy and Rachel. We enjoyed reconnecting with them again.

I put Isaiah to bed early and now we're relaxing and hopefully will be heading to bed early too.

Have a great weekend!

Hans and Angela

Jeremy's Family

Happy Birthday Robyn!

I hope you are having a wonderful birthday! I'm sure this is an excited week for your family. I wish our families could get together again sometime, like old times. :) Here are some great memories I have with you...
-playing with you at your house in PH
-playing with you at the RC
-making a tea party for our moms -remember the blue and pink cookies? :)
-witnessing in the "big yard"
-you and your parents helping us move to TB
-lots of great visits together in TB and RL
-talking about boys (of course!) and being very excited when Daryl asked you out :)
-our time together at RBI (drinking coffee in my room)
-getting lost after picking you up at the airport before my wedding
-having you come all this way to be in our wedding

I could probably spend another hour typing memories. Thank you for being such a wonderful friend even though we're miles apart. I hope and pray this next year will be full of blessings for you.

Happy Birthday LaRonda!

I hope you are having a wonderful day. I'd like to call you, but we are getting company tonight so I'm sure it won't happen. :( If only you know how often I thought of you. Thank you for being a wonderful friend all these years. Yes, we can actually say "all these" years. I figure we've been friends for at least 26 years now. Not bad eh? I have so many wonderful memories with you. I wish I could list them all. By no means is this list complete, but here are a few memories that come to mind right now...
-"sleeping" in your little log cabin
-trying to throw you cat over the rafters in your living room. :(
-going to the old R.L. school together
-bloomer pants (why didn't our parents stop us??)
-rooming together at Rosedale
-eating sugar wafers that your mom sent us from IGA (you said they were the best) while talking about Tim
-being maid of honor at your wedding
-visiting you in Denver, Cedareville and Rosedale (did I get them all?)
-traveling to T.B with you and Tim
-all the advice you gave to me on men (Jeremy thanks you I'm sure! :))
-getting the call that Michaela was born

and much more that I can't be shared with the rest of the world. :) Have a great birthday!

Hi

I don't have much to say, but thought I'd say hi. Jeremy is at church tonight so Isaiah and I are home alone. Isaiah is watching Veggie Tales (I'm sure he's too young for this, but it keeps him busy for a couple of minutes when I'm too tired to chase him!). Today was one of those dreary, rainy days. I love a rainy day, but this was the 3rd in a row. I had one of those mornings where I had a million things to do, but can't get myself motivated to do anything. If I would have made a list of things to do I probably would have got something done, but I was too unmotivated to even do that! I finally decided to go to the mall. The mall is only about 5 minutes from our house. Isaiah was a great shopping buddy. We didn't stay long and didn't buy anything, but at least we got out of the house for a little while.

Today is my "little" brother's 22nd birthday. I can hardly believe it. Where have all the years gone. I'm very thankful today for my family and especially for my brothers and their great wives.

Attention all you moms out there. If you have small children (2 and up) and are interested in getting them involved in a great music program check out Music for Young Children This program was started in Canada, but has now spread to the states. I taught their programs a few years ago and I hope to teach again this fall if I can get students lined up. It is a great program. The children learn all kinds of stuff about music, even composing, and have a blast doing it. They are taught in a group setting with other children. anyway, check it out. It's well worth you money. They're always looking for teachers too so if you're an experienced piano player check it out!

Well, Isaiah is getting sick of Veggies so I guess I'd better get off. I hope you are all having a great evening! Thanks for reading this long post. :)

Kitchen Tip

I saw this tip somewhere and thought it looked like a great idea so I tried it. It worked great! I was able to read the recipe without getting oil and flour all over it.

Yard Sale Finds

Yesterday morning Isaiah and I went to a couple yard sales. We only made it to a few before nap time, but it was well worth our time! I won't bore you all the great buys, but I did want to show you a picture of the shower curtain I got for $.50!! I got the rod and hooks for $1.00. I was so pleased. We want to remodel this bathroom sometime in the future, but it won't be for awhile so I was very excited to "dress" it up a bit.

Yard sales can be very addicting!

I put out a challenge for all you bloggers to post a picture of yourself rather than just kids. Sorry for taking so long to do it myself! I'm not real big on picture of myself, but since I did put out the challenge...

This picture was taken at the park at the end of our street. We rollerblad or walk and push Isaiah in his stroller. He loves it!


OK, I'm waiting to see pictures of the rest of you!

Lost Post??

has anyone every lost a post?? I know I posted a recipe on here for blueberry muffins, but now I can't find it. Any I losing my mind???

Born Lutheran

Lars--a Norwegian from Cook County in northern Minnesota-- was an older,
single gentleman who was born and raised a Lutheran. Each Friday night after work, he would fire up his outdoor grill and cook a venison steak.

Now, all of Lars's neighbors were Catholic.....and since it was Lent, they were forbidden from eating meat on Fridays. The delicious aroma from the grilled venison steaks was causing such a problem for the Catholic faithful that they finally talked to their priest. The priest came to visit Lars, and suggested that Lars convert to Catholicism.

After several classes and much study, Lars attended Mass.....and
as the priest sprinkled holy water over Lars, he said, "You were born a
Lutheran and raised a Lutheran, but now you are Catholic."

Lars's neighbors were greatly relieved, until Friday night
arrived, and the wonderful aroma of grilled venison filled the neighborhood.
The priest was called immediately by the neighbors and, as he
rushed into Lars's yard, clutching a rosary and prepared to scold Lars, he stopped
in amazement and watched......

There stood Lars, clutching a small bottle of water which he
carefully sprinkled over the grilling meat, and chanted: "You were born a deer, and
raised a deer, but now you are a walleye.

For Rhonda

Rhonda I liked your idea of posting pictures of something other than our kids. (Of course there is nothing wrong with posting pics of kids. You'll notice I just posted four of my son..)

I'm putting out a challenge. Sometime in the next few days (no time pressure) post a picture of yourself doing something around your house. I'll try to do the same.

This should be interesting

A day in the life...

Here are a few pictures of things Isaiah enjoys doing during his days.

Learning to blow bubbles

Nap time

Reading

Look Grandma -teeth!

(Note: that's banana on his nose...)

Why do you worship?

Worship: extravagant respect or admiration for or devotion to an object of esteem (Merriam Webster)

Jeremy preached yesterday on why we worship. Of course there are many reasons we worship, but one of his main points was because of how awesome and powerful our God is. I was struck again with how much I take this for granted. The God we worship (or should worship) created us (read CREATED us). Jeremy pointed out that even in our world if you create something you are given the recognition for what you created. That is why we have copyrights and patents. However, when it comes to God we tend to ignore everything He created and he allows it, for now. Since God did create us He could force us to worship Him, but he doesn't, He gave us a choice, for now. One day we all will worship Him.

I've been challenged to give God the worship He deserves everyday. Give him the recognition for who He is. I choose to worship Him today, while I have the choice.

Read Revelation 4 and 5 -very powerful

All Dressed Up!

I hope you all can handle a few more pictures of our little man. Brandon and Cindy are in T.Bay this week so I'm going to try to post new pictures so they can get "updated" on Isaiah.

We took this picture before church the other week. Not sure why it got a little blurry. Oh well.

Searching

Ok, bloggers, here's the question. I'm looking for a list of good, clean movies. They can be any kind of movie. I'm looking for answers from everyone so please don't be shy!

9 Months!

Isaiah is 9 months today. We are finally seeing two little teeth starting to come through on his bottom gum. He's been a little fussy, but not too bad.

I don't really have much to say. We're at Jeremy's parents this evening so I thought I'd take advantage of their high speed internet and my brother-in-law's awesome computer. While I type I'm listening to some great tunes. Alex is the king of anything music.

Jeremy and I dropped Isaiah off here a few hours ago and then left for a date night. We were going to get the tires changed on our Honda, but they couldn't fit us in tonight. (I know, I know, you know you're old married parents when you get work done on your car while on a date!) Tires weren't the only thing were going to do though. We went to Panera Bread and then to Borders. We had a good time. We are very different. I was reminded of this again when we got in the car and Jeremy said he looked at a book about cars, a book about space and a good about a soccer player (not sure these were the exact books, but you get the idea) I on the other hand looked at about 30 books in the kids department alone, a book about influencing women in our world and several magazines. To sum up, Jeremy reads and I look at pictures. :) I love him madly!

Well, I should get off. I'm not sure I've written anything that anyone wanted to read, but oh well. You did give us some ideas for dates I guess.

Happy weekend to you all!

P.S. Thanks for the computer Alex!

Peek-a-boo!

Hi Beckee

Hi Everyone,

Please welcome my great friend Beckee to my blog. I'm writing this so she'll leave a comment. :) heeheheheheh....she's going to beat me!

ABC's

The Alphabet...My Way!

Please note that the contents of this post may change at any time without notice.

Accent: Sad to say, but probably more American than Canadian. There are some things I simply say wrong. I'm confused, what can I say!

Bible Book that I like: Psalm

Chore I don't care for: Cleaning bathrooms.

Dog or Cat: Neither, but if I had to choose I guess I'd pick a dog because he could chase away the cats.

Essential Electronics: computer. Stereo

Favorite Movie: Not sure what would be my favorite, but here are some I'd watch again and again. Sleepless in Seattle, You've Got Mail, Everafter; Pride and Prejudice (not the new one!!!)

Gold or Silver: White gold

Handbag I Carry Most Often: Diaper bag, though I'd like to graduate to a large handbag

Insomnia: Not usually, unless I wake up early and have stuff on my mind

Job Title: wife, mommy, maid, chief (doesn't that sound better than cook?)

Kids: 1 son who will be 9 months on Saturday.

Living Arrangements: 2 BR; two baths; large room upstairs (former attic) that acts as guest room, game room, storage, sewing room; my favorite room is the kitchen that was remodeled before we bought the house; also love our screened in back porch.

Most Memorable Moment: Good memorable moments-our wedding day and honeymoon, giving birth to Isaiah; Bad memorable moment-car accident on the PA Turnpike on New Year's Eve

Naughtiest Childhood Behavior: I'm having trouble on this one...I must have been an angel! I'm sure this wasn't the worst, but it's all I can think of right now. I was supposed to be drying the dishes my dad washed. I decided to trick him and keep putting the clean dishes back on the dirty side instead of putting them away. I don't remember how many dishes he re-washed before he figured out what was going on. Sad thing is that I had to re-dry every dish I sent back through. :(


Overnight Hospital Stays: Two nights when I had Isaiah.

Phobias: Nothing too bad. However I DO NOT like mice

Quote: "Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight". Prov. 3:5-6

Religion: Christian -a true follwer of Christ

Siblings: 2 brothers; 3 brother-in-laws; 3 sister-in-laws and another one on the way

Time I Wake Up: Usually between 6:30 and 7:00.

Unusual Talent: I used to be able to talk like Grover

Vegetable I Refuse to Eat: I'll eat any vegetable. Least favorite would probably be peas. (Note: if lima beans are picked early enough they are much better to eat. I learned that from my grandma!)

Worst Habit: Procrastination

X-rays: None, unless an ultrasound counts, then I've had three

Yummy Stuff I Cook: Desserts, bread, muffins, pancakes

Zoo Animal I Like Most: not sure about my favorite, but my least favorite would probably be the snakes

Blueberry Recipe

In honor of our Red Lake roots, and because it's blueberry pickin' time in the Great White North, I'm posting a recipe for the best blueberry muffins you will ever eat. My mom gave me the recipe.

Blueberry Streusel Muffins

1 c. butter, softened
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 c. milk
2 eggs, beaten
2 1/2 c. flour
1 1/4 c. sugar
1 Tab. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 c. fresh or frozen blueberries

Combine flour, sugar and baking powder in a large bowl. Cut in butter with fork or pastry cutter till tiny crumbs form. Remove 3/4 c. of mixture. Now combine eggs, milk and vanilla and gently stir into the flour mixture. Stirring only until all dry ingredients are mixed in. Add blueberries and stril gently.

Fill greased muffin tins about 3/4 full. Sprinkle cinnamon crumbs on top and bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes. Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before removing from pan. Makes 15-16 muffins

What is this???

Dinner on the Porch

Proud Grandparents

Here are Mom and Dad with the grandchildren. Angel is 7, Moriah 5 1/2, Chloe 18 months, Isaiah 8 1/2 months, Grandpa 53, Grandma also 53. (sorry I couldn't resist:))

Problem

I'm trying to post a picture, but I keep getting an error message. Grrr... Does this happen to anyone else?

Sad Day

The fun has finally come to an end. My parents left this morning. :( It is always so hard to see them leave, but as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. We really did have a great time. We played the game "Settlers of Caton" a lot. I even won several of the games! Mom and I did some shopping, froze green beans, talked a lot, and of course played with Isaiah. He loved all the attention he got from Grandma and Grandpa. This morning I asked him where Grandma was and he started looking around. Just about broke my heart. :( It was very hard to see them go, but I am very thankful for the close relationship my family shares. It makes leaving hard, but the visit very good.

So, Mom and Dad, thanks for a great visit! Thanks for all your help around here and mostly for loving on Isaiah so much. We love you and miss you already! Here are some special memories from our visit:

-Eating on our back porch
-Lots of good talks
-Taking a million pictures (thank goodness for digital cameras!)
-Hiking at Caledonia
-fete cheese :)
-The 4th with Matt, Heather, Angel, Riah and Chloe
-Missing Brandon and Cindy. :(
-"Is anyone trading wood?"
-Mom won!!
-"I'm a happy, happy man!"
-Dad's steaks on the grill (yum!)
-Teaching mom how to blog

and many more.

Isaiah's special memories:
-Lots and lots of play time with Grandma and Grandpa
-Falling asleep sitting on Grandma's lap at church (mom's note: this NEVER happens!)
-Taking walks outside with Grandpa
-Falling asleep sitting up in my pack-n-play
-Grandma teaching me how to drink from a sippy cup
-Playing with Grandpa's newspaper
-Grandma buying me special soft Kleenex for my runny nose
-Shopping with Grandma and mommy
and many, many more

A wonderful time was had by all! I'll try to post some pictures.

Need ideas

Ok, here's something to get your mind wheels turning. I need some good ideas for a date night for my husband and I. We're looking for ideas that do not cost much money, but are memorable and romantic. There's the question. Ok, so it's not very controversial, but I'm looking for some good responses!

Time for a post

I'm still here! Thank you to all you faithful bloggers (all 4 of you! :)) My parents are here right now so life is a little crazy, but very good. Isaiah is getting a lot of attention which he greatly loves. Today he's fighting a cold or getting teeth. His nose is running none stop. Any suggestions on what to do for a sick baby? This is the first he's really been very sick. I hope it's teeth. He's 8 1/2 months and still doesn't have any teeth. I think he's too busy crawling and climbing on things to grow any teeth. Well I've been trying to think of something controversial to post just for you, Robyn and Rhonda. :)

Finally...

I finally was able to post a picture of the tree that visited our porch. This blog thing and dial-up internet don't get a long real well! It took several tries to get the picture to upload correctly. Maybe it's just me. :)

I ran spell check on what I just typed. The spell check told me that "blog" isn't a word. Chew on that one for awhile...

Have a great day!

Blessed!

This afternoon we had a bad thunderstorm go through our area. I was sitting in our kitchen feeding Isaiah when the top of a big tree behind our house fell into our yard. We have a screened in back porch just off our kitchen and part of the tree feel into the porch. Thankfully, the screens must have blown in before the tree hit because they weren't damaged at all. Also the tree did not hit our roof. The whole thing scared the wits out of me, but Isaiah handled it all like a real little man. :)All in all we are feeling very blessed! It could have been much worse. Thank you God!

Hot, hot, and more hot

It is so very hot today! On days like today (93 F, plus humidity) I miss Canadian summers so very much! What I wouldn't do for a lake (not man made!). Oh well, I will survive! We're going to Canada for Christmas so I'm sure we'll get our fair share of Canadian weather then. Then I'll probably be cold! I'm trying to learn to be content in every situation, but that doesn't include weather does it??

As you can tell, I have no idea what to post on this thing, but I figured I should say something. :)

Happy Sunday!

My men!

This is where the "marriage and diapers" come from. I am a blessed woman!

I did it!

Well, I finally gave in to peer presure and created a blog. (is that what you call these things?) I fought it long and hard, but then figured, hey, why not! So here it is. I figure this is a great way to stay in touch with friends that I don't see often since I do such a pathetic job of keeping up with email. I have no idea what I'll write about it, but I'll figure that out as I go. :)

Does this work?

Just checking if this posting thing is working