Abernethy Airmail

Good Friday Waffles

2011-04-22T10:26:00.003-04:00

Good Friday morning JoAnna decided that we should have waffles for breakfast. Here she mixes her eggs and milk.

She pours the melted butter into the milk and eggs.

JoAnna pours her waffle batter onto the waffle maker.

JoAnna checks on her waffles - making sure the batter doesn't leak out.

Here is the finished product. Homemade strawberry syrup made them even better. Yummy!! Great job, JoAnna. You are learning skills that will make you a wonderful wife and mommy some day.

Cake making

2011-02-28T18:28:00.009-05:00

Creativity is Lydia's middle name. Her hands are always working and doing something. Her piano skills top the list of finger abilities. Last summer my mom taught her how to quilt and she came home and made a quilt all by herself. She makes cards. She loves to work in the kitchen. She has recently taken an interest in cake decorating.

Lydia making a cake for a friend's birthday.

Lydia and her friend, Meredith, making the marshmallow fondant for the cake.

The finished purse cakes for Amanda's birthday.

A second view of the finished cakes.

Just kids

2011-02-21T16:44:00.005-05:00

JoAnna has recently discovered our microscope. The one we bought came with a case of pre-made slides. Last week we enjoyed examining each of the slides. We talked about how amazing God is and how marvelous is His creation.

JoAnna exploring some tiny little "pieces" of God's creation.

The children tried to get me to give them President's Day off. After they had worked all morning I told them that they could play a game this afternoon. They settled on Monopoly. They are out there now, talking and I think they are even teaching JoAnna something about buying and selling property.

We're still here

2011-02-02T18:23:00.009-05:00

When we moved into our house last year we had visions of finishing the basement to give us a place to hang out. In August that dream came to fruition. Here is the basement finished and ready to use - with the exception of the door to the laundry room to the far right (it was on order).

We went to my parents house for Thanksgiving and this is what we came home to...4 inches of water in the basement. The water came to the top of the baseboards, so this is with some of the water already removed. I was sick to my stomach when I saw my beautiful bamboo floor under water. The only thing that upset me more were the photo albums on the bottom shelf of the book shelf. One of the albums submerged was my wedding album. Thankfully, I was able to salvage all of the pictures.

Our home fellowship group came and bailed water and ripped out the bottom of the dry wall. Here is the flooring as the children and I pulled it up and numbered it. I think we were able to save the flooring. I now have a brand new sump pump in my storage room (the lowest point of the basement). We look forward to putting things back together and getting our "hang out space" back.

In the fall my dish washer decided to stop cleaning. It still worked, but several parts had fallen off and the dishes actually came out dirtier than they went in. I ended up purchasing a new one and Caleb saved the installation fees by installing it for me.

In early January a family at church needed help watching their grandson. Little Bryan was only a few days old. Lydia even tried her hand at holding this sweet bundle of boy.

JoAnna loves science experiments. She has been doing a series of experiments focused on teaching her about magnetic fields. In this one she had to hang as many paper clips as possible in the bent clip. As we put layers of tape on the magnet the bent clip held fewer and fewer paper clips.

Most every morning JoAnna can be found in the kitchen getting her own breakfast. For this budding chef cereal is too easy...she has to make oat bran or eggs.

4 Years in Heaven

2010-10-20T08:58:00.010-04:00

Today marks Chris' 4th year in the presence of his Lord and Savior. I still miss him greatly, but I can honestly rejoice with him...he is WITH JESUS!!!! Here is the link to the slide show video that I made last year in his memory. I also added a few random pictures.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54e1aUTLr-U

Up to this point in his time at MMS Chris had had several opportunities to get engine experience. This photo (and the one below) were taken in Bolivia. When the team had come together to reassemble the aircraft they were asked, "Who wants to work on the engine?" No one responded so Chris piped up, "I've had experience in this area and I am willing to over see the installation of the engine."

Chris being silly. Gabriel watches his antics.

Chris in front of MAF's 206 - the one Ian's team rebuilt.

The summer before Chris died we dug up around the house to seal the basement. While Chris and Caleb were taking up these paving stones they found an ant colony, complete with eggs and a queen. It actually extended the length of several of the stones.

The week before his brain tumor was found we were taken on a house boat vacation. He was taking the speed boat out for a pleasure ride and before he took it in to the dock he stopped along side the house boat. Marla captured the most precious smile on Chris' face. My mom loves it b/c she thinks he looks like he's asking, "Can I have one?"

Cosi

2010-09-03T09:54:00.014-04:00

Yesterday we went, with friends and fellow home schoolers, to the Cosi museum in Columbus. We went through the Titanic exhibit and found it fascinating. When you enter the exhibit you receive a ticket. On one side is your "Boarding Pass" and the other side is the name of a person who actually boarding the Titanic, along with a description of why they were on the ill fated ship. We were told that at the end of the exhibit we would find a memorial wall listing all of the people and whether they lived or perished. We were not allowed to take pictures while in the exhibit, I wish could share the snapshots in my mind. It amazed me that the wood had all rotted away, but they found papers, books and money still in tact and able to be read. It was truly amazing stepping back in time and experiencing a part of history. I was most struck with the sovereignty of God. Many people were not even supposed to be in the ship, but, for one reason or another, they were and they perished. God knows our days and He IS in control of every one of them.

Boarding Pass to get on the Titanic - actually just to get into the exhibit.

Mrs. Wilhelm Strom, Dana, perished along with her 2 year old daughter.

Mr. Benjamin Guggenheim, Caleb, perished, but his French mistress survived.

Mrs. Darwis Touma, Lydia, along with her two children were saved.

Miss Annie C. Funk, JoAnna, perished.

JoAnna next to a Lego model of the the Titanic.

After the Titanic we ate lunch on the lawn. After lunch we reentered the museum and the kids had fun. Here are pictures.

JoAnna on the phone and Lydia sending a telegraph.

JoAnna operating the switch board. I don't know why, but this reminds me of the Little House on the Prairie episode where Mrs. Oleson puts in a switchboard and then eavesdrops on the phone calls.

JoAnna, Lydia and Caleb "stepping out" in their buggy.

Brian, JoAnna and Kelly waiting for Lydia to get them ice cream. Michael prepares to take their money.

Brian, the TV newsman, ready to give a special update, while JoAnna, his camera girl, films his report.

Lydia, Brian and JoAnna learn the importance of using pulleys to help do their work.

Lydia and JoAnna using a lever to lift this car.

Catching Up

2010-08-28T15:51:00.012-04:00

Camping

We spent a few days camping with friends from church. We went to see the outside of a castle, mini-golfed, swam, walked, cooked out, tubed down the Mohican river.

Caleb, Lydia & JoAnna, outside the castle.

JoAnna doing what we enjoyed the most while camping...relaxing. Several years ago Chris brought this hammock home from Bolivia.

JoAnna's 9th Birthday

JoAnna with her Michigan/Michigan State cake

Cousin

Lydia spent 1 1/2 weeks in Michigan at my parents house. My mom taught her how to quilt. One of the best things Lydia was able to do is spend time with her little cousins. By the time we arrived Logan (6) and Brendon (3) were very much "in love" with their cousin Lydia.

Logan and Lydia falling backward into the pool.

Caleb's 16th Birthday

I'm not sure how it happened, but I now have a son who is 16 and legally able to drive. We have decided that he won't take driving lessons until next summer. He is carrying a large load in school this year. He is a sophomore and at the end of this year he will have 16 of the 21 necessary credits to graduate.

Bunny

One morning I found JoAnna and Tessa sitting in the front yard. JoAnna informed me that they were watching a bunny. Sweet.

Canning

I have never canned before, but for some reason this summer I have been driven to try. So far, I have canned 22 pints of pizza sauce, 5 pints of blackberry syrup, 6 pints of red raspberry syrup and 11 pints of strawberry syrup. I have also froze 30 pounds of blueberries, 6 dozen ears of corn and 1/2 bushel of peaches. I am also going to share in the purchasing of a cow...I will get 1/4 of it.

VBS 2010

2010-06-20T14:04:00.009-04:00

This year for VBS we used material from Answers in Genesis. It was wonderfully written and oh so fun to teach.

Once again I taught the story. This year instead of Lydia being my sidekick I put her behind the puppet screen and she did a great job. We named her puppet Cleopatra, Cleo for short. Every night the kids came in and asked if Cleo was going to be there...I think she was a hit. This week we talked about not being evolved from apes, but being made by the very hand of God. We also talked about Moses and God's protection of his life as an infant and raising him to be the one to lead His people out of Egypt.

Staci (and Deborah) helped the children to explore the tactile side of the stories this week...very hands on and involving the kids.

Here are Paris and JoAnna mummifying apples in Staci's class.

Every year Amy does a wonderful job organizing the crafts. Here are the children painting a project they had made earlier in the week.

The snack crew, Sandy, Susan and BJ, minus their leader. Nancy.

Thankfully the weather cooperated and it was a beautiful week for playing outside.

MMS Open House

2010-05-22T15:14:00.006-04:00

Since Chris' passing I have been privileged to continue to work at MMS Aviation. One of the guys once told me that it was good to have an Abernethy in the hangar again...that comment meant so much to me. The first year was hard because I often felt like I wasn't really doing much. I know that Keith appreciated me answering the phone, but it didn't feel like enough to me. On the way home one day I began comparing myself to the mechanics in the hangar and wondering how my time at MMS was making any difference. The Lord immediately rebuked me and told me to remember the story of the widow and her mites. He then asked me how much more I could give than I was at that point. "Nothing more," I told him. He then told me that He didn't expect any more of me at that time. That year in my school curriculum I received a widow's mite coin that was made into a necklace pendant. I often wear that coin to remind me that the Lord doesn't expect anything more of me than what I can give. I so enjoy the times that I am able to participate in MMS activities. This weekend we hosted an open house to make people aware of who we are and what we do up at the top of the hill by the airport.

Jenny and me manning our "post" at the food table.

This little radish mouse was made by Isobel, or in house Pampered Chef guru. The radish mice were popular and much enjoyed by our guests.

The best part, I think, of working at MMS is having the privilege of continuing to serve alongside my sisters in Christ. Rena, Karen, Michele and Jenny are godly women and I am so glad they are my spiritual sisters.

"Caleb Bunyan"

2010-05-20T19:24:00.004-04:00

JoAnna took this picture of "Caleb Bunyan" getting ready to cut down the dead tree.

This spring in our new house has been fun as every day we watch to see what flowers will bloom in our yard. One thing I did notice was one of the trees out back that didn't develop leaf buds. Tonight while the children and I weeded around the house I noticed several branches broken off this poor tree. As I explored the tree and pulled on a branch it snapped right off. I made a comment about the tree having to go and before I knew it "Caleb Bunyan" had a shovel and an axe and this picture was the result. "Caleb Bunyan" took care of the dead tree. Great job Caleb...now are you going to dig the hole for whatever tree I decide to replant in it's place??

Dana turns 40

2010-05-14T22:42:00.002-04:00

This is our special plate. Whenever a birthday comes around we pull out our plate for the special person. Today was my day to use the plate. Years ago I found Happy Birthday material and I made a placemat, which is, also, pulled out for these special days.

Here I am with my cake, which Lydia decorated for me. The girls picked out the fun candles...at least Wal-Mart didn't have the "over the hill" candle that another local store had.

Every year since Chris' death we have donated money to have luminaries lit, in Chris' memory, during our local Relay for Life event.

JoAnna in front of her Daddy's luminaries.

In front of Chris' luminaries.

JoAnna's Locks of Love

2010-05-13T18:12:00.007-04:00

Lydia and I have both donated hair to Locks of Love. Locks of Love is an organization that uses human hair to make wigs for children who have lost their hair for medical reasons. JoAnna has been growing her hair to donate for this worthy cause. Today JoAnna begged me to cut her hair b/c it was getting too hot on her neck. I warned her that her hair was going to be short and after measuring we snipped off her long locks. Her hair is very short and I didn't do the best job of getting it even in the back, but it will grow back. She loves her hair, even though Lydia keeps teasing her that her hair is "boy short". She's okay with her ultra short hair and we even bought some new flower clips and headbands. I reminded JoAnna that her hair grows fast and that the little girl (or boy) who gets her hair will be thankful.

Before

After

After, pretending she has long ponytails.

This is Lydia 3 years ago, when she cut off her hair.

Lydia Learns to Drive the Tractor

2010-05-12T12:07:00.003-04:00

Lydia begged and begged Caleb to teach her to drive the new tractor...which he reluctantly did. One day she drove down to the burn pile and picked up some mattress springs from the previous owners...they had burned a mattress and left the metal springs behind. She keeps trying to come up with things to do so that she can drive it more. I'm sure that by the time summer is over we'll put the tractor to good use.

Spring

2010-05-03T18:28:00.006-04:00

Caleb mowing the lawn with his new toy...er, I mean our new lawn mower. I own 2.7 acres and the new mower will be used for many years to come...and it should last for even longer!!

The girls helping me weed the flower bed in front of our house.

Maia waited patiently for the screen door to open so that she could enjoy the beautiful weather with us.

JoAnna bought me these flowers for Mother's Day. She wanted to put them in her room and give them to me on Sunday. I told her that I would enjoy them more if she would put them in a vase on the counter and let me see them every day.

Recital, Grand Prix and Dirty Dogs

2010-03-31T17:38:00.002-04:00

Piano Recital

JoAnna played Rocky Top with her piano teacher.

Lydia played the beautiful Casting Crowns song LifeSong as one of her pieces for the recital. She was so nervous, but she did wonderful - as usual.

AWANA Grand Prix

Here is JoAnna with her pencil car, ready for the Grand Prix.

JoAnna watches her pencil car come down the track. It was one of the only races she won, but she had fun. I tried to get a shot with the cars in it, but I guess I failed.

Dirty Dogs

While running around town today the girls and I left the dogs on their tethers in the back yard. We told Caleb he was in charge. When we came home the dogs were locked in the bathroom and upon opening the door we found this sight. Apparently they found a muddy spot behind the pergola where Caleb couldn't see them. It appears that they enjoyed their "free time".

Haircuts

2010-03-16T15:47:00.008-04:00

Our Bichon Frises are cute, but by the end of the winter their fur, no matter how much it is washed, starts to take on that 'doggy smell'. Bichons have a thick under coat that sheds off and is trapped by the top coat, thus they don't leave dog hair all over. We have to brush their thick curls to pull out the trapped hair, or they developed large matted areas. I don't have their fur trimmed in the winter b/c they need the warmth...but come spring we are all ready for them to get their fur thoroughly washed and cut. Today was day for those haircuts.

Before- I call them wooly sheep dogs

After - all clean and spiffy

Now that the days are getting warmer, we have enjoyed exploring more of the outside of our new house. The other day I took my camera out and took some pictures of the girls on the trampoline.

Lydia thought Maia would enjoy jumping, too. She didn't.

We laughed at Lydia's pose in this picture...we thought she looked like she was going to squish a monster sized bug.

Lydia and JoAnna enjoying a warm spring day.

Lydia is a Teenager

2010-03-06T16:56:00.002-05:00

For a little over a year Lydia has been acting like a teenager and now she has officially stepped into that time of her life. She had a party with a couple of her friends.

Lydia chose pulled pork BBQ and homemade cheesy onion rolls for her birthday party. The rolls were hot out of the oven for lunch...oh yum!! When I saw this picture I REALLY saw her daddy in her face. She is becoming a young lady her father would be proud of.

Lydia made Maia a birthday party hat and made her wear it for the party.

Lydia wanted to decorate cakes with her friends. She made the cakes and then crumb coated them with buttercream frosting. I made marshmallow fondant (MUCH better than the store bought stuff) and they colored, rolled and decorated. The creative juices were running strong.

Lydia with her cake. It just dawned on me that she is much like the butterflies depicted on the cake. She has grown into a beautiful young lady and she is starting to stretch her wings. One day she will fly from home and hopefully into a life that honors the Lord. I am praying for the wonderful, godly young man who will come into her life.

Snow

2010-02-06T14:27:00.009-05:00

One Friday, February 5th a snow storm moved into our area. We were predicted to get 9-12 inches of snow. This picture is the front of my new house on Saturday morning - it was still snowing and continued to do so until Saturday just after noon.

Here is a shot of the backyard during the storm.

After all was said and done I had 12 1/2 inches on my back deck.

The dogs really don't appreciate the snow. If they are out too long they get little snow balls (which turn into big snow balls if they are out toooo long) stuck to their fur.

Here is Maia with snow half way up her back...making outdoor "stops" a little interesting. : )

This is a picture of the woods in back of the house, after the snow stopped and the sun came out. Right after this picture the snow started falling and it wasn't quite so pretty. I think the Lord gives us these beautiful sights to tell us He loves us.

On Saturday at 2:37 pm the power went out. Which meant that we didn't have heat. We braved it through the night and by morning it was down to 55 degrees in the house. My neighbor has been plowing for me, so we waited for the driveway to be cleared - but it didn't happen. (Found out later that he tried, but the snow was just too deep for him to get through) By Sunday evening it was 52 degrees in here. At this point I have to explain that my parents are visiting so they were blessed to experience the outage with us. We all just wanted out of the house, so I started calling around and found a friend who came to plow us out...thanks so much, Jason!! We ventured out to some friend's house and watched a movie and warmed up. On the way home we encountered the AEP truck looking for the reason for the power outage in my little neighborhood. At 10:36 p.m. Sunday night the lights flicked on. The furnace ran for a couple hours to get things warmed back up. The picture above is my driveway after it was plowed. My driveway curves to the left and then it curves back to the right and along the edge of those trees and it continues off the right side of the picture.

New house happenings

2010-01-23T20:13:00.008-05:00

We continue to settle into our new house. Here are some around the house shots.

Lydia installing the new toilet paper holder in the upstairs bathroom.

We slept in the basement for a couple of weeks and here is Caleb reading one of his school books. He is snuggled under the covers b/c there are no heat vents in the basement, so it is pretty chilly down there.

JoAnna pinking...I mean painting up her new room.

JoAnna making Aunt Stephanie's taco casserole recipe for lunch.

One morning I asked JoAnna to take the dog outside and after quite a few minutes I noticed that she wasn't back inside. I looked out and this is what I saw. JoAnna, jumping on the trampoline in her pajamas, no hat, no coat, only her gloves and boots. What must the neighbors think of us!!

Vacation to Seattle

2010-01-15T20:07:00.009-05:00

I can not believe that 2 months have passed since my last blog posting. How did that happen? Well I'll try to explain. Since the last post we have sold a house, bought a house, spent a week in Seattle, moved and painted almost the entire inside of our new home. Phew!! I'm tired just typing that.

Lydia seems to make friends with every dog she meets. Here she is on our first day in Seattle...making friends with Grandpa and Grandma Abernethy's dogs. I call her the dog whisperer number 2. : )

This is the view from the house we stayed in...we were in the Cascade Mountain range. Breath taking and a wonderful place to sit and watch the sun rise as you read the Word before the day starts.

JoAnna and her cousin, Olivia, built these snow people, Wilson and Christina.

The kids had a great time learning how to ski. I love JoAnna's body language.

Here I am skiing. I kept going so fast and while trying to stop I ended up in several snow banks. When I asked my instructor what I was doing wrong she told me that I was doing everything right, BUT I didn't know enough to slow myself down. I had great fun, but my shoulder still hurts from the first fall.

As I packed things for moving I took Chris' box out of the closet. I felt strongly that I did not want to take the rest of his ashes with me to the new house. I knew that I needed to take the rest of the ashes with me to Seattle. When we landed in Seattle I thought, "I feel like I have brought him home." It was an incredible sense of peace. While at the house we stayed in we found this place to take the ashes. Money Creek is a beautiful place...I knew that Chris would have loved this place. The beauty and especially the sound of water rushing over the rocks...yeah this was the place.

We spent Christmas Eve night in our new house. I had the kitchen items put away so that we could have a nice Christmas dinner. Here are the children ready to eat at the island. We are still eating at the island, b/c the piano is still in the area where the table is going to go. We're slowly getting things where they belong.

Life

2009-11-09T18:29:00.006-05:00

It seems that every year at the fair one of the 4-H groups puts together an Ohio State booth. JoAnna is putting on her best disgusted face. Her mama brain washed...er...um...trained her little Michigan fan well.

JoAnna riding "Catching Air" with the Satterthwaite's grandchildren.

MMS had a bonfire and hayride in October. We had to take 2 trips on the hay wagon. Lydia is the young lady hiding her face.

JoAnna was able to hitch a 2nd ride, she loves spending time with her friend, Hannah.

Lydia and I enjoy sewing together. We work well as a team...she is so much like me. I look at her and see me--all over again--with her daddy's eyes, chin and teeth.

JoAnna helping me make soup for dinner on one of the first cold fall nights. She loves to help me in the kitchen.

This past weekend we helped a family from church put up some wood for the winter months that lay ahead. JoAnna and I were in the storage shed stacking the wood.

Lydia worked to bring the large chunks of tree over the creek (if you live in this area of Ohio that word in pronounced 'crick').

Caleb helped with loading and unloading that large chunks of wood.

Paul and BJ were responsible for the work party. Paul and his wife, Jenni, will enjoy the fire wood this winter.

October 20th

2009-10-20T11:47:00.006-04:00

Today is the day I remember my sweet Christopher's home going. 3 years ago on this day Chris' brother, Tim, raced across the country side with his parents, in their car. He was intent on getting to Good Sam hospital in Zanesville, Ohio, so that we could disconnect Chris' life support. When we left the ICU that night the nurses on duty were all crying. The next morning one of them called me (though she said that she wasn't supposed too, but felt she had to) and told me that the whole ICU nursing staff was touched by Chris' story in the short time he had been there. They were the most touched by the MMS guys who went to sit by his bed (even though he was in a coma) and read Scripture, talk to him, sing to him, joke around with him and pray with him. The character of Chris' visitors was an evident testimony of Christ.

I created this video tribute for my dear Christopher, who even as I type stands in the very presence of Jesus Christ, his Savior.

Houston

2009-10-09T20:31:00.023-04:00

We spent September 23rd through October 2nd in Houston, Texas. The company was wonderful, the weather beautiful and the time priceless. The best time for me was the time I spent with Stephanie. We sat on her new covered patio and enjoyed warm breezes and cool evenings. Priceless. We also traveled around a bit and did some fun things.

We journeyed to San Antonio to check out the Alamo. It was fun to learn the history of this famous battle. Did you know that Ohio had a part in the battle of the Alamo? Apparently the city of Cincinnati sent two cannons (named the twin sisters) to the fort before the battle started. We also enjoyed the Riverwalk...it was a Friday night and all the lights were pretty as we walked along.

On the way home the Lord had His protective hand on us. Stephanie and I were deep in conversation when she noticed that her gas gauge was below "E". We were on a long stretch of road that doesn't have gas stations and we prayed that the Lord would keep us going until we found a place to stop. When we finally pulled into a station I asked her how big her RAV's gas tank is. "14 gallons," she told me. We all watched the gas pump display and when it kicked off at 14.027 gallons we were all relieved that the Lord had literally kept the car going.

Another thing we did was visit Space Center Houston. Aunt Stephanie and JoAnna tried to figure out this cool looking game. Unfortunately, all they figured out was that it didn't work - "Houston, we have a problem."

Caleb wanted to see how much he weighed on Mars. He says he doesn't remember how much it was.

Lydia and JoAnna wanted to see what an actual moon rock felt like.

On our tram tour of NASA we saw this astronaut in training.

This is Apollo 18, it has never flown on a mission. It was pretty impressive to stand next to. I was surprised at how massive it is.

These are the initial booster rockets for Apollo 18. Just breaking free from gravity takes a great deal of fuel and power...WOAH!!

After learning about space we drove to Galveston. The girls enjoyed finding pretty seashells they could bring home as souvenirs. We also saw a really cool part of the Lord's creation. We saw good size sea birds flying along and all of a sudden one of them would just fall out of the sky. He would crash into the water and come out with a fish in his bill. I have pictures, but my zoom lens was back at the house, so the birds are too far away to realize what is going on.

On our last day we went to the police station from which Tim worked. Stephanie explained that a new captain, who had never met Tim, heard so many stories and good things that he suggested that they give this gym a name. It was officially named the Timothy S. Abernethy gymnasium.

Tim's picture was also added to a special wall that honors fallen officers.

Right before Tim died he found out that he was going to be going to Bomb Squad School. Stephanie told me that Tim had finally found his calling - what he was created to do. She took us to see the Bomb Squad and we enjoyed learning about what they do. Before we went to see all of the cool equipment they took our picture with the dynamite blaster. Stephanie is ready to blow us all up!!! Maybe it's time for us to go home. : ) After the Bomb Squad trailer we were able to see the SWAT team truck and trailer. Then we were taken back to the hostage negotiation trailer - it was pretty impressive. I really enjoyed learning more about what they do. Truly amazing what these men are trained to do to protect us.

The SWAT team was just back from a call and they invited us in to see their armored vehicle. JoAnna is trying to open one of the many holes in the side of the truck.

Trip to Michigan

2009-09-15T19:55:00.014-04:00

Since a picture is worth 1,000 words I thought I would "say" more in this blog...lots of pictures!! One of the best parts of the trip was spending time with my brother and his little boys. A few months back I browsed the realtor.com website looking at houses in my home town. I found a house that I thought I would like to live in. Unbeknownst to me my brother saw the same house and he bought it. On this trip I was able to see the house that I had "admired from afar."

When we head north we always get excited when we see this sign...we know that we are half way to Grandpa and Grandma's house.

JoAnna and Brendon on the swing set in my brother's back yard.

Caleb and Logan playing with my brother's i-phone.

Pere Marquette Beach

JoAnna playing in the sand

Lydia building a sand castle

My mom, Lydia and I took a bike ride one night. Maia sat right there in the basket the entire time we were out riding...about an hour.

Me and my beautiful children

Caleb

Lydia

JoAnna

My brother, Tom, and his sons Logan and Brendon.

Grandpa May and my mom. Grandpa celebrated his 96th birthday last month. I was able to be part of the birthday celebration with my family. I sure miss them all - I wish I could go home more often.

Raspberry Pies

2009-09-05T09:53:00.005-04:00

Last spring we planted blueberry and raspberry bushes in our yard. They tie for my all time favorite fruit. The blueberries won't be ready for a few summers, but we pick over a cup of raspberries a day. I started freezing them to make a pie. This evening we are having the Heath family for dinner and I decided to use our berries to make a pie to go along with my homemade pizza. We also made a blackberry pie with berries that I had in the freezer.

JoAnna getting the butter ready to make the crust.

Notice JoAnna's apron. Lydia and I made it last week. We have material cut out and ready to make aprons for ourselves, but time has not allowed us to work on them. We have packed our aprons to go to MI with us, and hope to work on them while there. Mom, if you're reading this get your sewing machine out.

Lydia getting her sugar ready to put into her bowl of raspberries.

My faithful helpers.

Tea Party

2009-08-17T20:39:00.003-04:00

Today JoAnna asked if we could have a tea party. I picked up the ingredients to make my "famous" chocolate chip cookies...at least they are well loved at my church. After supper JoAnna set up the dishes and we had cookies and "tea". We debated whether to ask DeeDee because last time she made a pig of herself and ate almost all of the cookies...lets just say she had chocolate all over her face and she needed a bath.

JoAnna, DeeDee, Maia and I around the tea party blanket.

DeeDee's Surgery

2009-08-15T19:20:00.002-04:00

Many years ago Lydia had several Lollipalooza dolls and she staunchly refused to let JoAnna play with them. JoAnna wanted a doll like them so badly. Around Thanksgiving in 2002 a supporting church invited us to speak and afterward they invited us downstairs. They had a light supper and then showered the children with piles of gifts. One of the first gifts JoAnna opened was a Lollipalooza doll--she was pink and white with pink polka dots. Chris had a hard time prying the doll's box out of JoAnna's hands to "free" the doll from her ties. On our way home we tried to think of a name. Chris decided that we should call the doll Delightful, after the name of the church we had just left. JoAnna tried to say Delightful and it came out as DeeDee.

DeeDee has been loved on and taken all over. She was forgotten at a church one time...Chris turned around and drove back to get her. Dee Dee has endured several surgeries, to repair all of the love she has received. One time DeeDee complained that she didn't have a belly button. Well, lets say that while JoAnna slept I cut little pieces of pink felt and rolled them into "belly buttons" and sewed 10 of them all over DeeDee (on her ear, her foot, her behind, etc...). JoAnna didn't appreciate it, so they were removed...DeeDee was disappointed.

JoAnna and DeeDee at the back of the bus in Colonial Williamsburg.

We went on a field trip to see the Charlie Brown exhibit in Cleveland. JoAnna is playing the piano and DeeDee is watching her...like Snoopy watches Shroeder.

DeeDee driving the house boat on our houseboat vacation.

This week JoAnna performed surgery of DeeDee's neck. I taught her how to blind stitch and she sewed up the ripped seam. (DeeDee tells us she had a "brain tumber" removed.)

Here's the 'patient' after her surgery. We think she will go on to keep JoAnna happy for years to come. She is laying in the cradle my grandfather made many years ago--for my cousin and I to play with.

Catching up

2009-08-13T19:19:00.012-04:00

JoAnna Turns 8

This is a picture of JoAnna the day she was born. She was born 8 days before Caleb's 7th birthday. We told him that JoAnna was an early birthday present. Dr. Prior gave us a special gift that morning. JoAnna and I almost died in childbirth and Caleb is holding a miracle in his arms. When Chris died I truly realized that the Lord was watching out for me the morning of JoAnna's birth, b/c Caleb and Lydia could have been orphans.

JoAnna with her pink princess cake.

Caleb Turns 15

Caleb has always been his own person. He is very much like his father, he doesn't care what other people are doing he chooses his own way and what he wants. One year Grandma asked him what he wanted on his birthday cake and Caleb responded, "I want a pineapple upside down cake!!" I think we were all a little taken aback, b/c we were thinking "cake with frosting." Not Caleb. He wanted his favorite.

Caleb, several years ago with his first pineapple upside down birthday cake--made by Grandma.

This is Caleb's 15th birthday with his pineapple upside down birthday cake made by mom. I told him that if he didn't smile I wouldn't let him get his driver's permit...thus the funky smile.

School Gets Under Way

We started school this week. Some people think it's a little early, but I like to be ahead. When things come up I like to be able to say, "Let's take the day off and go." When we are ahead I can do that, with no stress. I also enjoy being able to take the week off when my parents come down. It is too hard to get school done when the children want to play games with grandma and grandpa.

I caught Caleb snuggled under his daddy quilt reading one of his school books...notice that Tessa is getting in some quality snuggle time.

Lydia concentrating on her Teaching Textbook Math 7 program. She is already 4 weeks ahead and it is only 4 days into school. Today a look of realization came over her face and she asked me, "You mean, if I finish all my work by Christmas I won't have anything to do for the rest of the year?" I told her, "Yep. You finish the work and you're done." One of the best parts of home schooling, in my opinion, is when the student 'gets it' they can move on and they don't have to wait for the rest of the class to 'get it'.

JoAnna with her science book. After I took this picture we read our whole weeks worth of science and she wanted to read more, so we did. We are learning about mammals. Let's hope we actually finish science this year.

Home Work

2009-07-20T16:04:00.005-04:00

qThe past few months have been interesting. We have put our house on the market b/c we would like to move closer to town. We have slowly been working on the things that need to be dealt with before we move. Here are two of those projects.

After Chris died the sump pump burned out and one of the MMS guys replaced it. I asked him to put in a submersible sump...I don't think that was a good idea. When we did the work to dry out our basement the drainage tiles were routed to drain into the sump. Well the past few hard rains have caused the sump to overflow b/c the float gets caught and doesn't trip the pump. I had Caleb replace the submersible with a pedestal kind. He installed it and it works well. I scrubbed down that area, using hot soapy water and the garden hose, so that we could finish painting and the sump pump kicked on just like it was supposed to. Note: I think that Caleb looks so much like his dad in this picture.

Several months back my ice maker stopped working. I called MMS today to see about getting a filter changed b/c I thought maybe the filter was too old. They sent Dave (Caleb's mentor) out to check it out. Dave and Caleb worked through a few things. When Dave left there were a few ice cubes. If we don't continue to get ice he thinks he knows what the problem is and they should be able to fix it.

CHEO convention

2009-06-27T11:52:00.004-04:00

This past Thursday night and Friday JoAnna and I attended the Christians Home Educators of Ohio (CHEO) conference in Columbus. I did not attend any of the sessions because some continuing health issues kept me from wanting to be "trapped" in a room with a bunch of people. I only went to purchase some of my books for this next school year.JoAnna had fun looking at all the booths of books. I will get a copy of the sessions and listen at my own convenience. Beside the traditional workbooks for Lydia I bought several artsy things and she was very happy. Caleb received several books about WWII and a Motor/Generator kit. He was quite happy and I was even able to get his picture without his hand stuck in front of his face.

Caleb in his room, on a Saturday morning, reading a WWII book.

Caleb's motor/generator is already built and experiments have started.

Beating the heat

2009-06-24T20:22:00.018-04:00

Today was a hot one. Lydia and JoAnna decided to beat the heat by blowing up the pool. They splashed around in the cold water for over 2 hours. At one point Lydia put the hot, panting dogs into the water. I think their smiles tell a better story about their afternoon than I could do.

Lydia is peeking over the edge...you

can see JoAnna's shadow at the other end of the pool.

Lydia showing me the funny face that she said JoAnna was making.

Relaxing.

What can I say...Lydia gets her dramatic personality from her mom.

They played "pool tag" which is a game they made up. They chased each other around the pool laughing and giggling and jumped into the pool to "be safe." JoAnna fell out of the pool at one point.

Horse Day Camp

2009-06-20T19:02:00.005-04:00

This past spring, tucked into an envelope of 4-H papers, I found a flyer. As soon as I saw the page title I knew that I was going to have to make sure we were in town on June 20th. You see, the flyer announced a Horse Day Camp at the Coshocton County Fairgrounds. JoAnna has always loved horses and she was thrilled to be able to sign up for the camp. She learned about brushing and grooming...which included cleaning out the hooves. She also had a lesson in roping. She learned how to get up on the horse, hold the reins, sit in the saddle, ride and dismount. They also made a craft and each participant received a cowboy hat and bandana. If I had been feeling better I may have stayed just to get pictures of the whole day, but as is was I went home and fell asleep. I was able to get back to take some pictures at the end.

Getting her helmet on.

Getting up.

Riding.

I caught her and her counselor sitting on the fence talking. Notice JoAnna's pink cowgirl boots...they came from Aunt Stephanie's sister in Texas.

With her hat, bandana and "rain stick" craft.

Oil Change for the Highlander

2009-06-15T21:32:00.003-04:00

Today was a good day. I went to MMS and worked on the list of things that Mary left for me to work on. I really enjoyed taking my time and thinking through what I was doing. I hope that I did it all correctly. Caleb went in with me today. One of the things that Dave and Caleb did was change the oil in my car. It was quite sobering to look out the window and see my son sitting behind the wheel of my car as Dave talked him through driving to the back of the hangar. I still keep pinching myself...I can't believe that my son is nearing the age of driving. While we were at the hangar, Lydia and JoAnna held down the fort here at home. Lydia helped JoAnna paint a picture. They cleaned the house, did the dishes and Lydia made lasagna casserole for dinner...very yummy.

Caleb trying to remove the oil filter.

Dave and Caleb putting the new filter in place.

This is the azalea bush we planted up at MMS in Chris' memory. I can't wait to see the brilliant orange flowers bloom.

VBS Week

2009-06-13T21:25:00.008-04:00

This past week we participated in VBS week at our church. JoAnna enjoyed the fun with all the other children. Caleb was a leader with the 1st and 2nd graders for 3 nights and with the preschoolers the last 2 nights. I told the Bible story and Lydia was my side kick, Outback Lyd. This week we learned about the life of Peter. I really enjoyed telling the story each night. The children all came to our room anticipating Outback Lyd doing something crazy. One night she had a blow up pool and pretended that she was going to try to walk on water. The children enjoyed her antics. By the end of the week Lydia received quite a few impromptu hugs from the children. She was tickled.

Caleb explains something to a little preschool charge of his.

JoAnna and her new friend Hope.

Me telling the story.

Today we had a family carnival to wrap up our VBS week. We had games, a bounce house, a blow up obstacle course, food, candy, popcorn...and LOTS of fun.

JoAnna's smile shows how much fun she had.

Caleb helped with crowd control on the obstacle course.

Lydia followed me everywhere, including in circles as I tried to "loose her." She finally sat down to enjoy some cotton candy and eventually her friend Kennedy came and they went to enjoy the games.

Flowers

2009-06-01T20:53:00.007-04:00

We have been a little late in getting our flower pots filled up this year. With all the preparations in getting ready to move we have been a little preoccupied with the inside "things." Every spring I am drawn to the beautifully colored flowers that the Lord created. The children tease me b/c, though I always start out well, many times I end up killing my plants. Every year when I say, "Oh, look at the beautiful flowers!!" They respond by saying that the flowers are all yelling, "No!! Not the flower killer. Stay away!! Nooooo..." We all have a good laugh, I buy flowers and we go home and plant them. Tonight the girls helped me.

Last year the girls and I were at a home improvement store and JoAnna found a .25, half-dead begonia on the clearance rack. She picked it up and asked me if she could get it for her very own. I told her that I thought she would do a good job nursing it back to health. I then told her that we could go get her a pretty pot to replant her little "patient." As we walked away a grandmother, who hovered nearby, said, "Good mom!! Way to go." JoAnna nursed her little plant and she made it flourish. I am happy to report that this years "little flower patient" is doing well, also.

Lydia getting ready to load her planter into the chore truck so that she could take it up front.

Lydia with "the chore truck."

JoAnna planting her orange marigolds and purple petunias.

All finished.

Horseback Riding

2009-05-26T21:04:00.005-04:00

This past weekend Mary invited the girls to her house. Mary loves horses and she wanted to give the girls a chance to ride. We got there and Mary had Brenda saddled and ready to go. Mary is a great teacher...patient and full of knowledge.

"Cowgirl" JoAnna

Mary giving Lydia instruction on holding the reins.

Mary has Cherokee bow for the camera.

Cowgirl Maia

2009-05-22T10:34:00.004-04:00

This morning Caleb put JoAnna's American Girl doll cowboy hat on Maia. She looks like she is smirking at the camera. Life is fun.

Catching up

2009-05-21T21:42:00.011-04:00

Since my last log in I have struggled with some health issues and as a result I have struggled with exhaustion. Today is the first day I have felt better, so I thought I would update Abernethy Airmail before it wears off!! Not to mention that mom and dad miss the updates. : )

AWANA

The children completed their AWANA year. JoAnna finished her third book and workbook. She got the Sparky Award.

Lydia completed her fourth T&T book and earned the Timothy Award.

Caleb finished his sixth book (4 in T&T and 2 in Trek) and earned the Meritorious Award.

Lake Park

One of the things we enjoy in Coshocton is beautiful Lake Park. The girls

walk the dogs by the water.

What beautiful girls.

I caught this bird with it's dinner.

Stuff

Since the last post I have listed my house for sale and I have a potential buyer. One thing I am doing is going through and getting rid of things. Our church is having a huge yard sale this summer and I donated the pile of things. Here are Ron and John loading up Ron's dump truck. Believe it or not we have already taken two van loads of things out--not to mention 1 1/2 van loads of Chris' things. How did I get so much "stuff" in my house????

Chore Truck

When Caleb was a little boy we received a wagon from Loverne, a lady in our church. Loverne's parents bought the wagon for her when she was a little girl. She wanted the wagon to be used. We pulled Caleb and Lydia all over our Chicago neighborhood. Tonight Lydia brought it up from the basement, put the pups in it and pulled them up and down the road. Maia and Tessa were truly thrilled. (NOT!!)

Tessa "enjoying" the ride.

The Dentist

2009-04-08T16:07:00.004-04:00

When I was a little girl my mom took us to an old army dentist. He didn't numb for any reason. Needless to say my brother and I were petrified of the dentist. For many years my mom gave up taking us to the dentist...because we cried so hard. Many years later mom had a job that provided dental insurance. She found a different, wonderful, dentist, but by that time we had so many cavities that we each required several trips to the dentist to take care of them all. I now have a whole mouth of silver fillings that remind me of those neglected years. My children have all gone to the dentist since they were only 18 months old. The first few years they would sit in mine or Chris' lap and the dental hygenist would poke around in their mouths with a toothbrush. Over the years they have had wonderful experiences with the dentist. I really appreciate the Children's Dental Clinic of Coshocton. The staff are students from the OSU dental program. They are training and get to put into practice what they are learning and I get a price break for dental care for my children. Today Caleb went in for a small cavity on the one side...it was so small they only had to scrape it off and they polished and sealed the tooth. Lydia and JoAnna both had their adult molars sealed to prevent cavities. Caleb has to go back next week for two small cavities on the other side...by his age I already had all of my fillings. I'd say he's doing well.

Here is JoAnna with the dentist getting ready to seal those molars to, hopefully, preserve them well into adulthood.

Dogs, Cars and Dinner

2009-04-06T18:30:00.012-04:00

It seems that I have several things to post today. First I wanted to share two recent pictures of Tessa. The first is Tessa before her grooming appointment. The second is her after her appointment--quite a difference. She is our "barky dog" but we love her. She really is a sweet dog.

Before After

The second event I wanted to share was the AWANA Grand Prix. Unfortunately, I don't have many pictures of Caleb, b/c he wouldn't cooperate with the camera. None of the children placed, but they had fun making their cars and doing the work.

Here is Lydia with her ice cream sandwich car. Josh, from MMS, cut out her car for her. She got daddy's drill out and put the holes in the bottom of her car to put her own weights on. She then drilled out JoAnna's car. She's handy with a drill.

Here is JoAnna with her skateboard car. She was so proud of her car...she painted the whole thing all by herself.

The last thing I have to share is about what the children did while I was at work today. Caleb called me at work this morning and informed me not to plan anything for dinner, b/c he and Lydia wanted to make dinner by themselves.

Here we are enjoying homemade burritos. They made the tortillas from scratch and put in our home cooked refried pinto beans, onions, black olives and salsa. I am so proud of them. They are learning so much on these Mondays at home. Dinner was delicious!! For dessert Lydia made sugar-free jello...two different kinds, raspberry and lime. I felt spoiled tonight. I love my children and I am privileged to be their mother.

GroundCrew Envelopes

2009-03-29T15:47:00.004-04:00

One of my responsibilities at MMS is to help with the mailing of the GroundCrew newsletter. Karen keeps track of the mailing list. Weeks before the mailing she will send out each MMS family's personal mailing list. When she gets the lists back she edits the master list as needed. With the labels hot off the printer my responsibility begins. Last week I sorted 6,111 labels and grouped together certain zip codes. I grouped the labels together and put each group of labels with a box of envelopes. The boxes then went home to the MMS wives...my "sticky ladies." They will stick the labels to the envelopes and bring the boxes back. I will then put approximately 250 envelopes in each mailing tray. Before the GroundCrew can be "stuffed" into the envelopes each newsletter needs a return envelope stuck inside of it. The return envelopes get folded by the young people of MMS. Those envelopes are then stuck into the GroundCrew by a group of ladies from a local church. When the newsletter is ready the MMS ladies will meet for an evening and tackle the job of putting the newsletters into the labeled envelopes. The next morning I'll take a check and the proper paper work along with approximately 24 trays of mail to the post office. If all goes well a few days later people all over the world will be reading the latest news about MMS Aviation.

Here I am surrounded by boxes of envelopes ready to go home to my "sticky ladies" and young return envelope folders.

There's a virus among us

2009-03-13T19:14:00.007-04:00

This past Monday when I arrived home from work Caleb informed me that he wasn't feeling well. He slept most of Tuesday and Wednesday he seemed to be feeling better. He ate very little all week and even lost 7-8 pounds. Thursday he informed that his throat hurt. I didn't want to play pass the strep around all weekend so I called the doctor and she fit us in Friday morning. Friday morning I woke up with Caleb feeling somewhat better and the girls feeling lousy. We all trooped off to the doctor's office. She tested Caleb and it isn't strep, but some virus that has been going around Coshocton County. She told us that it has been taking the patients she has dealt with over a week to kick this bug. I pray that they feel better soon.

Here is Lydia curled up in the chair giving her body a chance to fight this bug. Her temp is 102.6 as of the last reading...she feels pretty miserable. Notice that she has found comfort in her faithful companion. Today we entered Maia's picture in a local store's (Buehlers) Cutest Pet contest. Each picture is given a bucket in which customers can vote by putting money. The picture with the most money wins. All of the money raised goes to Relay for Life.

Josie is feeling pretty crummy, too. Her fever is 103.6. She has been asleep most of the day...she even fell asleep on the way home from the doctor. Notice that she has sought comfort under her daddy quilt. Somehow I knew she would go straight for that quilt. : )

Lydia's 12th Birthday

2009-03-06T19:31:00.011-05:00

This picture of Lydia was taken when she was only 1 day old. Lydia is sitting next to Love E. Bear...the teddy bear Chris gave me the first Valentines Day we were married. Yes, she was born with all of that hair and no she didn't loose it. Notice those long fingers...I always knew those were piano fingers. : ) I still can't believe that 12 years have passed since Lydia May came into this world. I remember that morning so distinctly. I remember looking out the window of my hospital room and wondering if anyone out there realized how much my life had changed...I had a little girl. When we left the hospital with our baby girl Chris drove extremely slow through the streets of Chicago. I still smile when I think of the beginning of Chris' protectiveness for his little girl. They always had a special bond. I think they bonded so well, b/c Lydia is SOOO much like me in personality that Chris knew how to handle her...he was used to me.

This first picture is a "trip down memory lane." This picture of Chris and Lydia was taken the day Lydia turned 9...3 years ago on this date.

This year the puppies even got in on the present giving. They thought she should announce to the world her devotion to them.

Lydia really wanted to have 2 of her friends, Lauren and Meredith, spend the night. They came and we had tacos.

Lydia, the birthday girl.

One of the activities on the agenda tonight was to play Raving Rabids on the Wii. Here are the girls dancing.

National Acrobats of China

2009-02-26T22:18:00.007-05:00

Tonight the girls and I had a special treat. My friend, Marla, and her daughter took us to Zanesville for dinner. After dinner we went to Secrest Auditorium to see the National Acrobats of China perform. It was breathtaking to see them do the stunts and acrobatics. Wow!! There are no words to explain. We were not allowed to take pictures, but I found some pictures of them on the web.

Here are JoAnna with her friends Aliyah and Olivia waiting for the show to start.

The men set up these rings and did flips and different acrobatics to get through the top ring...amazing. They made it look so easy.

This young lady is double jointed and did an amazing routine. She balanced these objects and turned so that she was facing the other direction w/o dropped her possessions. At the end they brought out a special stand that had a mouth piece on it. She fitted it into her mouth and balance herself straight up into the air...truly spectacular.

16 female acrobats performed acrobatic tricks and balances on moving bicycles. Here they all climbed on to this one bike. This was spectacular. The young lady powering the bike could not see b/c there is another young lady right in front of her. Have I said WOW, yet?

Here are Lydia, JoAnna and Lauren with one of the performers. This young lady has incredible strength. She balanced on one arm and did a "dance" in the air with her legs. Spectacular. By the end you could see her muscles in her arms shaking. I am still in awe of the abilities of this troupe. It would be well worth the money and I would encourage you to see it, if they come to a place near you.

Bible Quiz

2009-02-21T18:10:00.008-05:00

One of the activities my children are involved in is AWANA. Every year the T&T clubs in this area have the chance to participate in an annual Bible Quiz. The quiz consists of a 10 question written test and a 10 question paddle test. The test covers the things they are learning in their books.

Lydia and her friend & teammate, Kennedy, are getting in some last minute studying before the quiz starts. They were one of only 3 teams that tested in book 4. They studied hard and were well prepared.

Lydia is getting ready for her written test. Kennedy said it was pretty easy. Lydia told me that she thought the test was tricky.

Lydia and Kennedy waiting for a question on the paddle portion of the quiz. They worked well as a team and did a great job.

(Left to Right) Elizabeth and Grace took 1st place in book 2. Brooklyn and Ben placed 4th in book 1. Kennedy and Lydia placed 1st in book 4. Ruth-Anne and Victoria took 2nd place for book 3. These young people did extra work sheets and had several Thursday night practices to get ready for the day. The priceless reward that all of the participants of todays quiz received was the treasure of hiding God's Word in their hearts.

Born to be Wild

2009-02-08T19:54:00.004-05:00

The other day my 'peeps' left us in the mudroom again. They said something 'bout an eye exam. The little 'peeps' came home with big pupils and these nifty plastic sunglasses. Last night the middle sized 'peep' decided to see how I'd look in them. Mama 'peep' took my picture 'cuz I looked way to cool not to have one taken. I think they need to go get me a leather jacket and maybe one day I can get a Harley. Oh, Yeah!!

Piano Recital

2009-02-07T20:21:00.005-05:00

This past Thursday Lydia and JoAnna had their piano recital. Their teacher decided to have it a little earlier, so that the students could play Christmas music if they wanted to. They both did a beautiful job. Lydia always amazed me with her abilities. I wish I could capture her music for you to hear. JoAnna actually played her music. Two years ago, during her first recital she got up to play and she just plunked her fingers up and down the keyboard...not playing anything but a bunch of notes...and then she got up with a great big smile and bowed--so proud of herself. I sat there choking back the giggles. Last year she played a Yankee Doodle duet with Lydia. As they went along JoAnna got faster and faster--they should have gotten a speeding ticket. She is my sweet little girl and I love her. Chris' mom and sisters have told me that if I want to know

what Chris was like as a young boy I only need to look as far as JoAnna. She has her daddy's laid back, happy go lucky personality.

Today in the store JoAnna, who had been happily chatting all morning, got real quiet. When I looked over she had a sad look on her face. I asked her what was wrong and after several attempts at getting her to share she buried her face in her hands and started to cry. I put my arm around her and asked her if she missed her daddy. She nodded her head. I asked her if it was hard to see all of the kids in the store with their dads. She nodded. I hugged her. She still misses her daddy so much.

Many people have seen this picture already, but this picture is of JoAnna and it shows her feelings for her daddy quilt. She snuggles with it every night. She put this picture on her Most Precious Treasure page in her photo album. On the page titled Make a Wish she put a picture of her Daddy and her Uncle Tim. She had me write out the words, "If I could wish for anything I would want my Daddy and Uncle Tim back."

Hot Dog

2009-01-31T19:37:00.007-05:00

The running joke in our house right now is: What do you call a dog who loves to lay in front of the furnace duct? The answer of course is a hot dog...in this case Maia. This winter we have a simple way of telling when the furnace is on...Maia enjoys the warm air that blasts from the duct in the kitchen. It's pretty funny to watch. She'll lay with her back to the hot air and after a minute or so she'll turn over and roast the other side. Last night Lydia went to a winter retreat at Skyview Ranch and tonight I caught her on the floor catching up on a days worth of lost snuggle time.

Caleb's mouse

2009-01-30T09:49:00.003-05:00

The children always try to get things cleaned up before Grandma Harmsen comes to visit. Grandma has this way of seeing things that need to be cleaned up, especially children's bedrooms. This past fall she went down to the basement and saw that there were quite a few dirty dishes scattered around on the bookshelves and tables. She reprimanded the children, b/c dirty dishes invite unwanted guests. Caleb is the biggest offender b/c he always eats down there and forgets to bring up the dishes. This past week the children wanted me to play Raving Rabids on the Wii with them. When we descended to the basement and I found lots of dirty dishes. Let's just say that mama was not happy. Upon further examination of things I realized that there were droppings on the some of the dishes and shelves. Now let's just say that mama was furious. I made Caleb clean up his dishes and told him he was in charge of mouse removal. He set out his traps last night and this morning he found that he had successfully eliminated one mouse. I am fairly confident that there was only one mouse, but we will leave the traps set for a while to make sure. There will also be NO more eating in the basement.

Snow and Ice Removal

2009-01-28T20:44:00.005-05:00

When I went to bed last night it was raining. When I woke up this morning it was still raining. I woke up to the village of Warsaw trying to get the icy slush off the streets before it froze. This morning the rain turned to sleet and then to snow. The snow came down as fast as a heavy down pour. The snow brings back wonderful memories of growing up in MI. I love it. This afternoon the temps were supposed to drop to the mid 20's so I decided that I needed to get the ice and top layer of snow off the drive and side walk before it all froze. It was a chore, but a great work out!!

Here I am with my snow shovel.

Here is the finished job.

Snow Day

2009-01-17T19:10:00.018-05:00

This past Wednesday snow accumulated all over Coshocton County. Of course, it wasn't anything like what my parents get in western Michigan. The children asked to go out and try to build a snow fort. They bundled up and I grabbed my camera. Lydia took the dogs out, but they didn't appreciate the snow as much as she did.

R: Maia, L: Tessa

Caleb

Lydia

JoAnna

Flat Tire

2009-01-14T13:55:00.004-05:00

Yesterday on the way home from ice skating the tire light on my dash board lit up. I pulled into the next gas station and checked the tires. The passenger side tires both looked a little low, so I made a mental note to go up to MMS and have one of the guys check on it today. I had to be in town for a doctor's appointment at 9:40 this morning and for some reason last night I told myself to leave by 9:00. When I started the car up I walked around the car to make sure that the tires still looked okay. The back rear tire was completely flat. My first thought was, "Okay I can handle this." I walked into the house and told Caleb, "Get up. I need your help." I told him the situation and he swung into full gear while I phoned the doctor to warn them that I might be a few minutes late. Two summers ago, before I drove over 7,000 miles across the country and back, Dennis at MMS had me change the tire on my car. Chris had walked me through it verbally, but I had never really done it. Thank you, Dennis, for teaching me and giving me the confidence to take yet another step. Caleb made me proud, also. His work with Dave in the hangar prepared him for this and he jumped right in...it made me realize how much he can do, but I don't give him enough credit for it. We found the reason for the flat...we had run over a screw. The tire has been repaired and is remounted underneath the car and I was only a few minutes late for my appointment. I can see Chris grinning from ear to ear and saying, "Way to go!! I knew you could do it!!"

Winter Break

2009-01-11T17:32:00.015-05:00

Christmas week this year went fast. The weekend before Christmas my mother went into the hospital. She woke my dad up that Friday night and told him to take her to the hospital...she could hardly breath. After she arrived and had been put through various tests and lots of poking they determined that she had blood clots in both her lungs.While she was in the hospital she watched a snow storm outside her window dump a couple of feet...NOT inches...of snow on the ground. (Notice the table on the deck above.) Christmas Eve morning she was finally allowed to go home. We drove all Christmas day to get to their house. The roads were dry until we got off the expressway, about 15 miles from my parents house...then I battled ice mixed with black ice. It was a challenge, especially since the guy behind me thought I was driving too slow. We arrived safe and sound.

The snow piles at the mobile home park where my parents live were pretty impressive. In the photo above Tessa was impressed that she had to be thrown up on the snow bank to do her business. I told my children about when I was young and it would snow we would hear the familiar sound of my uncle's snow plow hitting the ground and being pushed up the driveway. We would get excited b/c the snow pile was always big enough to sled down. Sometimes we would get the shovel out and dig a fort in the back of the pile...it was tall enough for us to stand up in. Now THAT is winter.

The past two years have been hard in the way of family meal time. Dinner time was very important to Chris and we seldom didn't eat dinner together as a family. Sitting around our round dinner table has been too painful for me. No matter how we arranged the chairs it always felt like Chris was missing. A few weeks back the girls and I went to Amish country and we found a new table. It was delivered this past week. It is rectangular and it doesn't have the feeling of a missing person. We really like it. The times we are home we have eaten at the table and not in front of the TV...another step. It feels good.

Today we started ice skating lessons. Even I signed up to skate. It was quite fun. I kept having to laugh, b/c I would hear this loud thumping and falling sound echo through the ice arena. I would turn around and Caleb was sprawled out on the ice. He has never been what you would call graceful, but today made me realize how much like his mom he truly is. JoAnna made it over half way around with out holding on or falling.

Lydia was so graceful out on the ice. I think she would do well at just about anything she would try. We have 6 more weeks of lessons and I look forward to seeing how much she progresses by then.

Compass Rose

2008-12-23T11:09:00.004-05:00

The other day I sorted through some older e-mails and I found this picture, it was taken a few weeks before Chris got sick. A group a ladies travel around the country and they volunteer to paint the compass rose at different airports. On this day they painted the compass rose at the Richard Downing Airport in Coshocton, OH. The ladies asked for volunteers who might want to help with painting. At the far right are Chris and Caleb. Just next to Chris is Dave, the one who sent the picture to me and he is now the one who mentors Caleb on Thursdays at MMS. I have to admit that I had to fight back tears when I saw this again. I marvel at the fact that even though the Lord allowed Caleb's father to be taken from his life, he HAS provided someone else to step in and provide some encouragement as he grows into manhood. Again, I thank you Dave, for allowing the Lord to use you in Chris' son's life.

Children's Christmas Musical

2008-12-22T20:29:00.009-05:00

This past fall two ladies at our church started working with the children for our traditional children's musical, which is performed the Sunday evening before Christmas. Kristine and Sandi worked most Sunday evenings for over and hour to get the children familiar with the music and ready for the performance. Thank you ladies for all your hard work and dedication and making it all come together. What a blessing to hear children singing about the Lord Jesus.

The story line of the play involved a spelling bee. The contestants were given a name of Jesus to spell, if the got it correct they advanced to the next round. Here are Lydia and Chase. Chase was the judge and told the children if they had spelled the word right--and if they didn't what part they would get in the Christmas pageant. Lydia was the pronouncer and she gave the children their words to spell...I think I can give a totally unbiased opinion and say that she did a fantastic job!! : )

Here is JoAnna as Bella McDoubt trying to think of the correct spelling for the word "lamb". After asking for a song she perked up and confidently spelled L-A-M-E. Her bubble was quickly burst and she was given the part of a shepherd girl.

This is Elizabeth as Beatrice B. Beesley...she buzzed around the stage showing off her beautiful yellow and black stripes. She stayed in the bee one round and misspelled her 2nd word and was given the part of an angel.

Here Lydia and Kennedy are arguing about which of the final two contestants spelled the name "Emmanuel" correctly. One of them used an 'I' and the other an 'E'. It was concluded that it can be spelled either way.

Here are the co-winners Michael and Ruth-Anne playing the roles of Jesus and Mary.

At the end of the play JoAnna, Brian and Olivia watch on as the others take their bows.

Uncle Tim

2008-12-14T15:15:00.012-05:00

This blog is sad to write. This past weekend Chris' brother Tim joined him in heaven. He was a police officer and he truly loved his work. He had a servant's heart and helping others was what he was all about. Two years ago Tim flew to Denver and drove his parents to Ohio (in 1 1/2 days) so that they could be with me when we removed Chris' life support. He walked into the room and said to me, "You're still coming to Texas for Christmas." We did go to Texas for Christmas that year. Please pray for this family as they start down the difficult road of grief--may the Lord carry and protect them.

I want to share a few pictures of our trip to Texas two years ago.

Here they are playing Zingo, which was JoAnna's Christmas present from Uncle Tim and Aunt Stephanie.

This is Uncle Tim teaching Caleb and Lydia about riding a lawn tractor. He let Caleb ride by himself, but Lydia went with Uncle Tim.

This is Uncle Tim taking JoAnna for a ride and letting her steer...that was so fun for her.

JoAnna wanted to take some pictures. She took a whole bunch of pictures and she got this one of her uncle, not to mention a bunch of her fingers, the ground, the side of the house, the sky...you get the idea.

Here, JoAnna is helping Uncle Tim open one of his Christmas presents. He didn't seem to mind the extra help.

I don't remember what was going on here, but everyone seems to be having fun.

This is the beautiful locket Tim and Steph gave me for Christmas that year. What a blessing. I, in turn, this past week found a beautiful locket and put hers and Tim's pictures in it. I could hardly wait to give her my gift. I think she now fully realizes how precious their gift was to me 2 years ago.

Thanksgiving

2008-11-30T15:32:00.007-05:00

We went to Michigan to see my family for Thanksgiving. My parent's paper is about 2 inches thick on Thanksgiving morning. My children found the add that they wanted to check out. They are looking for a good deal on a Wii...they are saving their money to split the cost of a system.

My brother and his family came over on Thanksgiving Day and after dinner we played Railroad Pedro (Pee-dro). Has anyone else heard of Pedro? It was an old farm game that my grandpa played with his buddies. His children became a 2nd generation of Pedro players. My brother and I are third generation and my children are now 4th generation Pedro players. JoAnna can't wait to be old enough to play with us.

On Friday my mom received a call from her brother. There was a place open in the nursing home for my grandpa (the Pedro player). He is 95 and has been in an assisted living situation, which costs $2,500 a month. It is about time for Medicare to kick in and they will only pay for a $5,000 a month full nursing home. That's our government!!! Here I am with Grandpa in August of 2006. He has been showing signs of dementia, even forgetting his own daughter. The funny thing is that he has not forgotten Chris. He always points to Chris' picture and says, "I know he died, but how did it happen?!"

We drove home on Saturday and had everything unpacked and put away by bedtime. On Sunday we had our first roast from our full freezer...wonderful!! Then Lydia bathed the dogs...here are Tessa (still wet), Lydia and Maia (dry and fluffy).

Skull Session

2008-11-22T22:17:00.004-05:00

Today was a big day here is Ohio...the Ohio State vs Michigan game. My friend Kristine and her daughter, Elizabeth are big Buckeye fans. Well, as I reported in a previous blog my daughters and I are Wolverine fans. Now, I must tell you that I don't follow sports or really even care...I just like to be an antagonist. I am also proud of the state in which I was born...the only state that has a built in map on most every human body in the world. So, buckeye fans, like it or not, you have a "little bit of Michigan" in you!! : )

Anyhow, today Kristine and I took the girls to the Ohio State band skull session. 2 hours before each home game the band rehearses one last time before marching onto the field. They invite the opposing team's band to join them and today we thought that the Michigan band would be there, so we went. We drove an hour and a half to Columbus, fought traffic, walked through the crisp air, rushed half way around St. John arena, found seats and no sooner sat down when we heard them announce that the Michigan band only comes every 4 years. We were all disappointed b/c we wanted it to be a fun day of rivalry. JoAnna proudly carried her Michigan wolverine with her. She would push it's hand and it would yell, "Go, Michigan!" and then play Hail to the Victors. She held it up for the ladies in the line for the restroom and squeezed it's paw...it's a good thing she's cute.

We left after the skull session and took the long way over to Easton and grabbed some lunch. It was a great day to "just be out." Everywhere we went people joked about the Ohio State fans hanging out with the Michigan fans.

Seriously, I really do love Michigan. I grew up in Muskegon, which is right on Lake Michigan. I grew up swimming in that lake, camping on it's shores, watching the beautiful sunsets and enjoying the snow that it caused every winter. I would love to move back home, but I believe the Lord still has a purpose for me here. I will trust and obey my Lord...even in enemy territory.

grandparents

2008-11-17T17:51:00.003-05:00

My parents came in on Thursday morning. The children have been enjoying having fun with them. We went to Walnut Creek Cheese and found some yummy Amish treats...cheese, homemade jams, beef jerky and of course we had to get some homemade ice cream. One evening my mom, Lydia and I went to a Pampered Chef party and Caleb went to a lock in at our church. My dad stayed home with JoAnna and they played games. She got him to play the Littlest Pet Shop Game with her, but in the picture they are playing Crazy 8's. He said that JoAnna also gave him a lesson in biology. She explained the whole process of how food goes from our mouths, through our bodies and eventually to the toilet. Maybe she's listening better in school than I give her credit for.

Where's the Beef?

2008-11-11T22:01:00.003-05:00

It's in our freezer!! A man at our church donated a beef cow to the MMS families that attend our church. We split the cost of processing the meat and now I have loads of beef. What a blessing. My mom is coming this week and I hope she'll help me learn how to cook soup bones to make soup. I've heard they make the best soup broth. My children's (it used to be Chris' also) favorite thing about winter is that it is time to make homemade soup and homemade bread. I'm not sure what is better the soup and bread or my chai tea...hmmm...that's a toughy.

Ready for winter

2008-11-04T20:15:00.003-05:00

Today was supposed to be school day, but only a little school was accomplished. I went to the doctor and stopped at the fire station to cast my vote on the way home. Go McCain and Palin!

This evening the Adelsberger family from MMS came over and helped to get my house ready for the winter.

I was so glad to have them here. I think about all of the things that Chris used to do and many times it stops there. I never really get to doing them. Caleb figured out how to change the furnace filter so that was already done when they arrived. Josh raked up and pulled pine needles (from the neighbor's tree) from my gutters. He also power washed my house...which has never been done since we moved here. Their son Noah and my Caleb mowed the yard. Hannah and JoAnna picked up pine needles from the mulch. Kristi and I worked with making sure all the dead flowers were removed and planters were stored in the shed. It feels so good to have all of that done. Thank you so much Adelsberger family for helping us get all of those things done. Sometimes

it is not that I can't do it, but my mind has so many things to think about. It ends up being the tyranny of the urgent and outdoor things don't seem "urgent". The evening ended with my homemade pizza. Yummy!!

Thank you Adelsberger Family!!

MMS Monday

2008-11-03T18:08:00.006-05:00

Today I continued to work with Mary on learning what she does in the office. She had to finish up end of the month reports so I had a chance to get the boxes of envelopes ready to go home to the ladies. They will adhere address labels to them. In the near future those envelopes will hold the MMS GroundCrew and go out around the world telling news of what's going on at MMS Aviation. After I finished I went in to Mary's office and she had just finished up. She then went through the reports to show me why she does what she does, where to get the information, where to put the information and the list goes on. Mary is truly an asset to MMS and I respect her more than ever for all the hard work and long hours she puts in. I told her that I wish we could open a "cover" on her brain and pour her knowledge into my brain. In this picture she is showing me how to pay bills.

Later in the afternoon an announcement came over the intercom system informing us that the MAF Chad 206 was about to go up on it's return to service flight. We were privileged to be a part of the circle of prayer for the airplane as it returns to service in South Africa. Dale was the team leader who headed up the project, which lasted over a year. I must say that today Dale's face showed great joy...as well it should have.

Here we are circled up and getting ready to pray.

Just after take off.

Time Flies

2008-11-01T14:14:00.009-04:00

New Blinds

We sure tend to get busy. Life as a single mom speeds up and just keeps right on going. A week or so back Lydia and I went shopping. The gentlemen at the home improvement store destroyed several sets of blinds before he finally handed them to me and said that they would be close enough. My mind is a number trap so when he failed to subtract 1 and 3/4 inches from 36 correctly I told him what it was. I then I told him half of that (so that he could take equal amounts off of each side) but he wouldn't listen to me. In the end he cut them wrong and we had to find someone who could actually do it. When we left Lydia asked me why he wouldn't listen to me, I just told her that he was probably too proud to admit that I was actually right. We then talked about how we all have that problem. We are too proud to go to God and tell Him we messed up and then we try to "fix" it and make it worse. When will we ever learn?? Lately I have been blown away by the Lord's complete total love for me and I have asked Him how He could still love me when I "blow it". He gave me a picture of how much I love my own children. Yes, they "blow it". Yes, they disappoint me. BUT, I still love them and I always will.

Here we are hanging our new blinds. It feels good to be able to have a sense of privacy at night.

Trick or Treating

With the children being home schooled most of their friends are from church and thus we have a hard time meeting the friend requirement to finish the books. One option is to pass out invitations in your neighborhood. We make up invitations and pass them out with our candy on Halloween night. This past Halloween night we actually saw John McCain and Sarah Palin. Lydia said that we should have given them extra candy!! Then she looked at me with her devilish look and said, "If someone comes as Obama we'll tell him he gets no candy!!"

Lydia, JoAnna and their capable assistant Maia waiting to pass out invitations and candy.

Sparky Day

JoAnna's Sparky Club decorated cookies today and then the went to a Nursing Home and passed them out. JoAnna is wearing her daddy's apron...it has daddy's hand prints on it.

Getting Ready for Winter

Back at home Caleb was taking down the swing and putting away the summer things. I'm not sure if he was having more fun looking through Chris' tool box or actually doing the work. I cleaned out the garage and straightened things up a bit. Lydia was at a friends with Maia so Tessa was tethered to Chris' tool box to keep me company in the garage. It is a beautiful day here and a jacket was not needed...one of the last beautiful days of fall. I just might have to turn the furnace on soon. Part of the reason I haven't turned it on yet is that Chris would try to get as close to November as he could. He would be proud of me for making it to November!! The other part is that I can't remember how to change the filter...I guess I had better ask someone soon or the kids will turn into ice cubes. I sure wish I had paid more attention when Chris tried to teach me these things.

You know you're a home school family when (#4)...

2008-11-01T14:12:00.002-04:00

...your 7 year old daughter helps you make bread and she can count it as home economics.

Has it really been two years?

2008-10-20T19:44:00.005-04:00

It's so hard to believe that Chris has been with Jesus for 2 years already. My friend, Karen, told me two years ago that a few years down the road I would look back and marvel at where the Lord had taken me. In my grief I had a hard time believing it, but here I am 2 years later and I DO believe it. God has been gracious, good, kind, faithful, loving, caring, comforting...a Father to the fatherless and a judge to the widow. This past summer I bought a beautiful, bright orange flowered azalea bush. Today after work some of the ladies and their children joined their husbands and we buried some of Chris' ashes with the azalea. I know that those ashes are not who Chris is, but putting them in the ground was a sort of closure. We all then shared dinner together. It was nice to not be alone today. I love my MMS family and I feel so blessed to be here and still serving among them.

Dave and Caleb dug the hole for the azalea bush. Caleb developed pink eye and was unable to join us today, so it was nice that Caleb was able to be a part of the day.

Shawn and Dwight planting the bush in it's place. One thing that Dwight said before the planting was that the Lord delights in the home going of one of His children. The Lord was delighted in taking Chris home. It's hard for those of us left behind...but the Lord's words bring comfort and hope. One day, provided the Lord doesn't return first, the Lord will delight in each of our home goings, also. Hmm...it blows me away that the Lord would even think of me, let alone delight in me. I don't deserve His love.

JoAnna is putting some of her daddy's ashes around the bush.

Dwight and Bob putting water and dirt over the roots. Now, like Dwight told me, next year Chris will tell us that spring is coming. Lydia picked the bright orange flower. She didn't want the pink--she thought the guys would enjoy the orange more.

After dinner the children were outside running around. We hadn't heard from them in a while and Donna stepped out to see what they were up to. She came back and told me to get my camera. When I went outside this is what I saw. Sarah, JoAnna, Rachel and Katie were crawling under the fence, getting rocks and putting them around the azalea. They had also picked some "flowers" to put around the bush. I love the hearts of children.

Nature Hike

2008-10-15T14:28:00.010-04:00

Today the girls and I went for a walk so that JoAnna could fulfill one of her Green Jewel requirements for her AWANA book. She had to find 6 things God created and then she had to find 5 rocks to glue on a poster to show her leader. Once we arrived at Warsaw Park the girls had to play a game of Pooh Sticks. Pooh Sticks all started years ago when Caleb loved Whinnie the Pooh books. Pooh and his friends would drop sticks from one side of the bridge and race to the other side to see whose stick would come out first on the other side. When we moved here to Warsaw we started playing the game ourselves. The children would pick up sticks before we got to the park. We--that included Chris and I--would drop our sticks in and go to the other side to see who the winner was. We still play the game today.

JoAnna and Lydia getting ready to drop their sticks for Pooh sticks.

JoAnna and Lydia watching for the sticks to emerge on the other side.

JoAnna finding rocks for her poster.

JoAnna stuffing all her rocks in her pocket...I hope she gets them all out before laundry day.

You know you're a home school family when (#3)...

2008-10-13T20:29:00.007-04:00

...one of your son's "classes" is mowing the lawn 101.

Baptism

2008-10-12T16:21:00.007-04:00

On this beautiful Sunday morning our church service started with two young ladies who wished to be baptized. One was a young lady who just graduated from high school. The other young lady lives in my house. Two years ago JoAnna expressed a desire to know more about what Jesus did for her on the cross. Just a few days before Chris' surgery she asked Jesus to be her Savior. Well, a few weeks back she told pastor that she wanted to be baptized. We talked with her and made sure that she understood what baptism means. At the beginning of the service today both young ladies professed their faith and followed our Lord in baptism. In a world of disrespectful young people it is a blessing to see two young ladies who desire to follow Jesus.

Today

2008-10-09T20:31:00.005-04:00

I feel so blessed. I have had several phone calls today to see how I am doing...and to let me know that I am being prayed for. I can really tell. I told one friend that I feel like I should be sad, but I feel like I am being upheld by the Lord's strength. I feel so very blessed.

One of my young friends, Kirsty, is challenged with Cerebral Palsy. When Kirsty and her mom came into AWANA last night they gave me a card that Kirsty had made for me. She told me that it took her 30 minutes to write the message, but she did it. She wanted me to know that her family is praying for us.

I love Kirsty. She lights up her world and her understanding of the Lord is amazing. I have shared with Kirsty's mom several dreams that I have had about her. In one dream there were of a bunch of us MMS people running in a field and Kirsty was right in the middle of us. We were all laughing and enjoying the tall grass and beautiful flowers, but Kirsty's laugh was heard above them all. It was so sweet. I love to imagine what heaven will be like. Heaven has always been real to me, but Chris' death has sweetened my understanding of heaven.

The other day the children and I were watching an Extreme Makeover Home Edition. The father of the family is in the military and he is serving in Iraq. They brought him home for the show and surprised his wife and children. They ran to meet each other and, of course, they were crying. By that time my cheeks were pretty wet with tears. I said to the children, "This is only an earthly reunion and they have only been separated for 10 months. Can you imagine what it will be like to get to heaven and meet daddy? When we see him again face to face?"

"When we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be. When we all see Jesus, we'll sing and shout the victory." AMEN!!!

October 9, 1993

2008-10-08T21:42:00.005-04:00

I have not been good at adding things to my blog lately. I don't feel like this time of year should be that overwhelming, but I guess it is in the back of my mind.

I went to the Apple store with a friend the other day. She is a die hard Mac user and she highly recommended them. A few years back Chris had researched them and was ready to make the change. Then we were gifted a wonderful PC (not a Mac). It has been a great computer but lately is has been having problems...just running programs. It would work fine and then it would just shut down and I would loose what I was doing. I have now joined the world of Mac users. I love it so far. It's wonderful, straight forward and soooo easy to use.

One thing I haven't figured out how to do yet is scan into iphotos (which is a wonderful program!!) so Caleb helped me to figure out how to scan this picture. This picture was taken 15 years ago on October 9th...the day Chris and I were married. It was a simple ceremony--my parents got off easy. Chris and I washed each other's feet and vowed before family and friends that we were committed to serving one another. It wasn't always easy, but we had fun growing together. The day he went to heaven I lost my best earthly friend and soul mate. In this picture Chris was being a rascal...'nuf said.

The Fair

2008-10-02T10:19:00.008-04:00

I hope I get this posted before my computer acts up again. The screen all of a sudden will become distorted making it extremely difficult to see what's going on. We hooked up a second monitor to see if that was our problem and it wasn't. So it must be the computer...oh joy. Where's my computer technie when I need him the most?? Being with Jesus is far better than playing with computers any day.

On Tuesday we enjoyed a wonderful day at the fair. The girls rode the rides...though Lydia didn't ride many, but JoAnna did.

Lydia and JoAnna enjoying a ride on Pharoah's Fury.

My children have always enjoyed the big pink slide...they would go down over and over, but now JoAnna was the only one who wanted to go down...my babies are growing up.

One of our favorite rides is the bumper cars. JoAnna was finally able to go on them alone this year. Now I know that my baby is growing up. How is it possible?

One thing that JoAnna has wanted more than anything in the whole world is a horse. I let her enjoy a pony ride this year. She grinned from ear to ear the whole ride. It was worth the $3!!

When my girls saw this Ohio State booth they had to show their opinions of it. I was born and raised in MI and have 'brainwashed' my children to cheer for MI...notice JoAnna's shirt. We get teased alot for wearing our MI shirts, but what would life be like if we all liked the same things? The other day after AWANA we went to our car and notice a great big Ohio State magnet on the door. We know exactly who it was from and we are quietly plotting our next move.

Reserve Grand Champion

2008-09-29T18:59:00.009-04:00

This past weekend was long, but very fulfilling. The girls and I left early Saturday morning for Youngstown. We attended a missions event and I shared a story with the children in the morning. During lunch I was able to reconnect with several people from churches who are a part of keeping me at MMS. What a blessing to reconnect with friends who I haven't seen in almost 2 years. I was able to sit in on the adult missions session in the afternoon. Jim, one of the speakers, spoke on his work as a Bible translator. Bible translation work, as some of you know, has always been a deep desire of mine. The girls and I then hit the road and traveled back to Coshocton for an MMS going away party.

The fair is a big deal here in Coshocton. So many young people participate in the fair that the schools close down for a couple days. Sunday afternoon found us at the Jr. Fair arena at the fair grounds. Lydia's fair project was Maia, our Bichon. She had her You and Your Dog interview at noon. She was interviewed by a judge, who tested her knowledge of the things in the 4-H book. We found something for lunch and returned shortly before 2:00...at which time the actual dog show started. Lydia did a good job remembering what she was taught. Maia, however, kept jumping on Lydia wanting to be picked up. When all was said and done Lydia and Maia placed as the Reserve Grand Champion. My mother asked me what that means and I explained that it's a fancy name for second place. Pretty good, for their first year. She wants to show Maia again next year...now that she knows what is expected of her. When we arrived home Tessa went bonkers to see Maia again. Maia 'passed out' on the floor...she slept from the time we walked in the door until morning (with the exception of outside business). All said and done I would say that the weekend was rewarding.

Tessa's Big Day

2008-09-26T19:50:00.012-04:00

Today was the day that Tessa has been waiting for. Tessa finally got her big purple splint off. We can also stop using the taped together cups to take her outside. She had twisted the splint so she had some tape stuck in her fur. The skin was tender and itchy after they shaved off the tape. Lydia was able to help her find relief with a bath and a little conditioner on that leg. She no longer looks or sounds like peg leg the pirate.

On the way home we encountered a road block on US 36 and were rerouted. While descending the steep dirt road we saw this scene...but the goat was actually in the road. I laughed and told Caleb to grab the camera. You know you live in rural country when you find chickens and a goat in the middle of the road. I love it!! On a sad note when we listened to the radio later we found out that there had been a fatal head on accident...that's why the road was closed. An 92 year old man went left of center and hit an ambulance. The man perished and it sounded like the EMT's injuries were non life threatening.

When we finally arrived home we made applesauce. One batch of regular and one batch with strawberries in it. The apples are so sweet there is no sugar needed. I had plenty of help. Caleb, who would not cooperate with the camera (so he is not seen) ran the apple peeler/corer/slicer. Lydia hand peeled. I cut out the cores and spots. JoAnna sliced them and put the pieces into the pots. It didn't take long and now we have applesauce for this winter.

You know you're a homeschool family when (#2)...

2008-09-21T20:42:00.004-04:00

...one of your children can be found, in her pajamas, on the front porch doing her spelling.

Weekend in MI

2008-09-21T20:11:00.004-04:00

Thank you to everyone who prayed for me during those "dark" days. I could really feel myself being lifted away from that 'black hole'.

We had a good time in MI. One and a half days just isn't much time. We arrived at my parents around 2:30 Friday afternoon. Caleb mowed Grandma and Grandpa's lawn and JoAnna picked up sticks. My mom made some killer pizza...I wonder where I get my pizza making abilities?? Every time some one comes to my house and eats my pizza they say I should start my own business. My mom taught me how to cook and I love to do it. That's actually one of the things that drew Chris to me...homemade bread.

Friday evening my brother's family showed up to share dinner with us. It was great to see them again. They have two little guys who love to wrestle with their daddy, so when Caleb sat on the floor they pounced on him. For as big as Caleb is he can be so tender. He amazes me b/c he is so rough with his sisters...girls...but he was so gentle with Logan and Brendan...boys...go figure.

On Saturday we delivered Amish country apple butter to my aunt and uncle. We then stopped and picked up fresh picked Michigan Honeycrisp apples...delicious. I also got a bag of seconds to make applesauce. As sweet as the firsts are I can't wait to taste a good naturally sweet apple sauce. I'll let you know how yummy it turns out.

I went to my class reunion on Saturday evening. It was good to see everyone again. Some had changed so much and some were just the same. We had fun trying to guess which pictures of children went with which parents. Some people picked my children out right away, but most couldn't place them with me. I think it's b/c they look so much like their daddy. I left around 9...when the alcohol started coming out.

We found out today that Lydia received a "superior" rating (the highest) for her 2 dog projects in 4-H. She did well and I am proud of all her work. Next Sunday afternoon she will actually take Maia to the show ring and perform with her in front of judges.

Memories

2008-09-18T19:36:00.005-04:00

I am going to Michigan to attend my 20th high school class reunion. Yikes!! How did the time go that fast?

Please pray for me as I have been really struggling lately. I have had such a strong longing to talk to Chris. I guess I'm really missing him. I avoided a ladies function at our church. I couldn't explain to myself, let alone anyone else, why I didn't want to go. Sunday morning I was finally able to put my finger on it. I feel like I'm being sucked into a giant black hole of grief. I don't want to go into it...I have been clinging to the Word, trying to stay out of it. I also notice myself reverting into the responses of overwhelmed confusion that I had right after Chris died. I am grumpy, irritable and impatient with the children. I don't like being like this.

Just weeks before Chris died Lydia entered an essay contest and won. I wanted to post her submission as a tribute to her daddy.

My Dad is my hero because...

...he fixes airplanes for missionaries. He has been to Bolivia, Suriname, and Indonesia to help put airplanes back together.

He takes me on dates.

He plays games with me.

He is going to let me get a fish.

I love my daddy and he loves me.

by Lydia, age 9

This bike was the prize for the winning entry.

You Know You're a Home School Family When...

2008-09-16T13:06:00.002-04:00

...you clean out the living room furniture and find 32 pencils, 4 pens, 3 crayons, a colored pencil and a pair of scissors!!!!

Hurricane Ike

2008-09-16T08:51:00.005-04:00

Most of you know that Hurricane Ike hit Houston this past week. Tim, Chris' brother, and his family are all safe. Lydia was worried about Tim, b/c he is a police officer in the city of Houston and while everyone else was evacuating he stayed to help. He was exhausted, but safe.

We also felt the affects of Ike. It came through here Sunday afternoon into the night. We left for church and there was a strong wind blowing. While waiting for Caleb to finish up with the youth group the top of a huge evergreen tree fell onto the service road leading to the church. When we left the men had it under control, but as we rounded the church we saw another beautiful tree laying on it's side. It wasn't blocking the road, so we were able to leave. We were over half way home when we saw a firetruck. It was leaving the scene of a fire along the road...hmmm. When we passed the guardrail, it was black and still smoking from the electrical line that had fallen on it b/c of a downed tree. We thought we would probably not have power when we got home. Correct assumption. When we arrived here the back patio was a complete mess. I got a picture half way through the clean up. We had to secure our plants and keep our swing from flying away. The mudroom where the dogs stay while we are gone has no windows. The dogs were completely stressed by the time we arrived home. Lydia had to calm and reassure them. It was amazing b/c when Lydia took them out to do their business neither would do anything. They sat at complete attention aware that something was wrong.

I also got a picture of the neighbor's trees. This past summer I really felt a need to get them cut back. When we had the ice storm several years back the pine tree had several branches that fell off, one of which broke our bedroom window. There were several branches that didn't break, but afterward they hung much lower than before. I had a tree service come and they took out the tree that we were allowed to remove and they trimmed the remaining tree limbs that hung over my house. During the storm on Sunday I was so thankful that those branches were gone, b/c they very well could have fallen on my house. I was still concerned as I watched the wind bend that tree right in the direction of my house. I prayed that if it did fall we would not be hurt.

We were without electric for 22 hours. It was a chance to remind the children how blessed we are to have electric power. Lydia played the piano. Later Lydia and I sat on the front porch in the total darkness enjoying the strong wind. I love my new front porch. For lunch on Monday we had what we call hobo dinners. We took pieces of tin foil and loaded them with potatoes, carrots, mushrooms pieces of leftover hamburger and some cream soup. We then rolled the ends up and put them on the grill. YUM! We do this often, but they tasted really good yesterday.

The mission was also without power so I didn't have to go to work. The children and I were able to get so much school work done. We anticipate another day of working hard...much to mom's delight and the children's chagrin.

Fun in the Yard

2008-09-11T20:09:00.006-04:00

Tonight all 4 girls (2 human girls and 2 puppy girls) and I enjoyed a cool evening in the yard. The puppies ran around on their tethers. The veterinarian told us to keep Tessa's splint dry and clean. How do you keep a puppy's foot clean and dry? We tried plastic bags and they kept getting little holes in them. We tried double bags, but that also ripped. Yesterday we were at Meijer's in Newark and Lydia and I looked in the medical supply aisle for something strong and thick enough to protect Tessa's foot. Nothing. We wandered down the paper supply aisle and when we came to the paper plates and cups we looked at each other. We both had the same idea. We picked up a package of plastic cups. Chris, our missionary mechanic, would have been so proud of us. We found a way. We taped the cups together and put ribbons through holes in the side and tied the cups to her foot!!! I now call her peg leg the pirate. (Maybe Lydia and I should apply to MMS and work as a team!!) I also put in a picture of Tessa disobeying the vet's orders and rough housing with Maia.

This past spring JoAnna kept asking me for a scooter. I told her to put it on her Christmas list. It turns out that she didn't have to wait. My parents live in a modular home park and every year they have a park wide yard sale...which happened to be going on while we visited this past summer. With menacing rain clouds hovering overhead we decided to leash up the pups and take a chance. We walked around the corner and there was an almost brand new scooter at a yard sale price. Ka-ching!! She burned up the road with her scooter tonight, but none of the pictures turned out. I was able to get a good picture of her picking raspberries off our one plant that produced berries this summer. We get a few berries each day. They are a sweet reminder that next summer, hopefully, we will have a bowls full. It will probably be a few summers until we get to take advantage of the blueberries we planted this summer.

I also got a great shot of Lydia and Maia. Lydia has met her match in stubbornness with this pup. I think it's a case of puppy love and they are both totally smitten with one another.

No more Tessa jumping from the bed

2008-09-09T16:33:00.005-04:00

What a day. Tessa is our "odd" dog. She does not look like a Bichon. She does not act like a Bichon. A few months ago at my parents house she got her front, right paw stuck under the stove. We had to move the stove to free our squealing dog. She limped for a few days, but all seemed well. Then about 1 1/2 months ago I accidentally put a kitchen chair on the same paw...she didn't limp or seem hurt. A week later she jumped off my bed (a captain's bed with two sets of drawers under it--it's pretty high). She then started limping on the same paw. I thought that maybe she had sprained it, so we tried to wait things out. Today (with dollar signs dancing in my head) I finally broke down and called the vet. The vet was stumped b/c during the initial exam nothing felt out of the ordinary. She took an x-ray and found that Tessa had an impact fracture on the growth plate in her leg. The fracture was from a few weeks ago and had pretty much healed, but the splint will give it strength as it finishes healing. She is also supposed to stay calm for the next few weeks...no rough housing. Tessa and Maia, not chasing one another...hmmm...I wonder what that looks like. I am glad that she is okay. She may be odd, but she is our Tessa and we love her.

Today we enjoyed the cooler weather. We sat outside in the grass and the children took spelling tests. That is why we home school. We love having school any place we feel like it.

Wilson

2008-09-05T16:15:00.008-04:00

The beginning of this blog entry is silly, but as I surfed through pictures the other night I couldn't resist.

In the spring of 2002 we went out to Seattle to visit with Chris' family. We stayed in tents at a state park near his parents house. As is custom in Seattle it was cold and rainy most of the time we were there. The tent awning kept sagging so Chris found this big rock to put on the edge of it to keep the water draining. Every time we went into or out of the tent we forgot about "the rock" and we ended up with a few bumps on heads and a couple of smashed toes. We had fun teasing Chris about his rock. When we left Chris put the rock on the dash board of the van, calling it his souvenir. Some where along the trip home the rock picked up the name Wilson. Wilson sat on our piano until a visit from my parents, when Wilson disappeared. We found out that he had been kidnapped by my mother. Well...on the next visit to their place Wilson hitchhiked a ride back to our house (in Chris' bag). Chris then took pictures of Wilson doing things with the children and sent them to my mom. She called up, laughing and thus the saga of Wilson continued. He would always disappear from whichever house he was at. One time he arrived at our house in box with curly white hair, button eyes, glasses and a top hat. Oy!! My mom and Chris had a great relationship. She and my father thought of Chris as their own son. They loved him dearly and miss him greatly.

Today was JoAnna's first soccer game of the fall. I really like this camera for taking pictures of the games. She and her friend, Lee, were defenders and JoAnna gave her coach the thumbs up sign that she was ready. She plays soccer the way she goes through life...kinda of in a happy go lucky, smiley way...so when she actually got her foot on the ball I tried to get the shot.

I have tried for days to get this blog posted, but I am having problems uploading pictures. I have learned to make the file size smaller, so I don't think that's the problem. I hit the browse button to search for my picture and Internet Explorer completely closes down. Thankfully the blog saves itself often so retyping isn't necessary. Does anyone have any idea what's going on. I searched Blogspot's files some, but I don't have time to search all of them. I had troubles when I tried to upload my Kodiak pictures, also.

The Kodiak

2008-08-29T20:56:00.010-04:00

Today, the girls and I had the privilege to take a short flight on the Kodiak airplane. Dwight called yesterday and asked if we wanted to go up and I said, "Yes! We'll be there." Unfortunately, we showed up 24 hours early. *sigh* Today...the correct day...we arrived at MMS and the hangar was abuzz with excitement. We were on the first flight. I must admit I felt a little queasy by the time we were over West Lafayette and I was grateful for the little vent above my seat that blew cool air on my face. The girls really enjoyed the flight. I've posted pictures to show them before take off. I also added a aerial picture of Coshocton, Ohio.

When we arrived at the hangar something else was going on. Josh finished the work on Edgar's floats and Edgar was there to pick them up. Edgar is the owner of the airplane that Chris worked on the last year of his life. The plane itself was completed just after Chris' passing. The floats, however, complete "the package". They will allow Edgar more flexibility in his flying. Job well done, Josh. Chris would be proud. I have linked to Josh's blog where he has pictures of his work on the floats.

Debbie

2008-08-27T22:09:00.007-04:00

This is my friend Debbie. This past spring we were brought together in a very special way. I would like to share the story, b/c it is yet another way that the Lord continues to show His hand in His children's lives today.

Debbie and I were both part of a Sunday evening ladies Bible study at our church. Our pastor's wife, Deb (not to be confused with the Debbie picture here), led the study in Titus. One day as I worked through the study questions I was challenged by some things that Deb wrote about discipleship. The Spirit put a deep longing in me to want to disciple someone. I have never discipled anyone, but I prayed, "Lord here I am. If you want me to do this I pray that You will arrange it all." Little did I know...

The following Sunday we sat in the fellowship hall listening to Deb speak and the same longing returned only much more intense. I started praying, "Lord, I am available. I don't know how, but I trust You to work it all out. If you want me to disciple someone show me who it is." At that instant the Spirit put Debbie's name on my heart and peace flooded over me. I then prayed, "Lord that makes so much sense. I have been getting to know Debbie for a while now and she keeps saying that she wants to know more. Okay Lord, now I need you to help me. I don't want to sound arrogant. How do I approach her?" I sat back totally at peace, trusting Him to work it out.

After the study I crossed the gym and stood by Debbie while she talked to one of her friends from work. When she finished her conversation she turned around and with all seriousness she said, "Dana, I was just sitting here feeling convicted. I need to be discipled. I was trying to figure out who to ask. After the study I saw you over there and thought I want Dana to disciple me. Will you disciple me?"

I think my jaw hit the floor. I was speechless. I then poured out my story from the past week. God had worked out all of the details. Debbie is a wonderful student and I have prayed often that the Lord will teach her through me. It is a true joy to study together. I have grown to love her as my sister in Christ. I look forward to spending eternity with my friend Debbie.

On a different note...the other night I was reminded of how differently my children think since loosing their daddy. Chris used to brush Lydia's hair, she loved it!! The other night Caleb picked up a brush and started to brush Lydia's hair. At one point Lydia said, "My hand is numb and I can't get it to wake up." Caleb immediately started questioning her as he moved her hand and tried to assess the situation. I knew exactly what his mind was thinking...numbness in the left leg and arm was one of Chris' symptoms. Their lives have been changed forever.

Fix-it Mom

2008-08-22T18:00:00.006-04:00

One advantage of having a missionary airplane mechanic around the house is that if he doesn't know how to fix it he WILL figure out a way to do it. Now that Chris is gone I have had to learn a great deal about fixing the little things. I can't just leave things anymore...I must learn to do it or find someone who can. One thing in my favor is that I used to work in the hardware department at Sears. I learned a lot about tools. I read the tool catalogues...no, I'm not joking, I really did...and I asked a whole bunch of questions. (Does that sound like Chris or what??!!) Earlier this week Caleb was opening my desk drawer and he had to catch it because the screw had come out. After a few days of it occupying the top of my desk...which was really irritating me...I crawled under to have a look. I realized that the screw they used was way too short and it had stripped out the wood. I saw another hole in the bracket and decided to use a longer screw in a new location. I got out the drill and I did it!! I slid the drawer back into it's proper place and I now have my desk top back. It feels good to accomplish the little things--that I never knew I could do. Every little step I take I can't help but think of how proud Chris would be. I can see his crooked smile of approval and hear his laugh of joy at my accomplishment.

Today we worked on science experiments. Caleb and Lydia are learning about cohesion and adhesion. In the picture they are testing out the cohesion of water by trying to get 30 drops of water (a ml) on a penny...it worked. Then they put one drop less (29 drops) and then added a drop of soapy water (which has little cohesion). The water went all over the table. I love home schooling...I think I learn as much if not more than they do.

Groundcrew Stuffing

2008-08-20T10:15:00.003-04:00

Last night several of the MMS ladies met in the lunchroom at the hangar Our goal was to get all of the MMS Groundcrew newsletters stuffed into their envelopes. That may not seem like a big thing, but when you consider that we stuffed a total 6,441 letters it isn't so small. Each of us has our own unique style of getting the letter into the envelope, but that's okay as long as they are kept in zip code order. I'm not sure what we enjoy the most getting the job done or the chatting that happens along the way. There are many steps to getting the Groundcrew published, but we are the final step in getting the Groundcrew out the door and into your hands. You can go to the MMS Aviation web site to view back copies of the Groundcrew.

2008-08-16T23:38:00.007-04:00

Lydia took this beautiful picture of a butterfly on the bush next to our patio.

We started school this week. I left for work on Monday and the children had already started their seat work. Caleb and Lydia are studying ancient history this year. The books Sonlight has chosen are so interesting that Caleb and Lydia kept asking me to read more so we did and now we're ahead of schedule. It is always nice to be ahead so that when scheduled (or unexpecting) things happen mom doesn't feel the pressure to get caught up with school. Our favorite part of school is the read alouds. For the most part we really enjoy the books that Sonlight chooses. Last year one of our books was Seven Sons and Seven Daughters and we ended up reading all but the first 16 pages in one day. My throat was sore and my voice hoarse, but what a fantastic story!!

We spent all day Friday and Saturday cleaning the basement. What a job. It has needed to be done and my mind has not been able to handle it. I think what really inspired me was finding the Home and Garden channel's link to watch full episodes of certain shows on line. We don't have cable and in Warsaw if you don't have cable you get no TV...so we watch alot of videos from the library and things that we can watch online. Anyway, we cleaned, sorted, straightened and threw away so much stuff that my head is still spinning. One thing I found was a box of neatly labeled, small accordian folders that held store receipts from 1998 to 2004. Chris was definately organized. He had also stapled all of the two part receipts together...staples can't go through the shredder. My dear Lydia sat and took out all of the staples while I searched for any house related receipts--we took turns shredding. Next week I'll call Goodwill, but tomorrow, I'm taking a nap!!

2008-08-08T19:05:00.008-04:00

Today our new camera arrived. We have had fun all afternoon. It has an exchangable zoon lens...ohhh it's nice. I found some great big bumble bees on our butterfly bush and they became the subject of our zoon lens. Lydia took some beautiful pictures of flowers. I love digital cameras b/c we can delete the ones that don't turn out and not have to pay for them!!!

Tonight we also celebrated Caleb's 14th birthday--which is actually tomorrow, but he will be at a youth group event. We had the birthday boy's requested dinner...tacos. We had birthday cake and ice cream and he opened his presents. I found this book at the home school convention back in June. Caleb is always "building" these kinds of things in his mind and I thought I would give him the blueprints. In a few days I may be wondering what in the world I was thinking.

Evaluations and Bichons

2008-08-08T10:07:00.009-04:00

In the state of Ohio home school families are required to show that their children are working at their grade level. I used to have the children tested every year, but last year I had the children evaluated b/c of the hard school year they had...with their daddy's death. Last year, they passed, but only b/c my friend, Angela, who evaluated them knew our circumstances and that we had worked hard on other areas besides the academics. At the beginning of this school year I told Angela, "We're going to work hard this year. I want to show you that we do do school and we do alot of learning." She laughed at me and told me that she knew we worked hard. Well, this week we had our evaluations for this past school year and she was very happy with what we accomplished this year. All three of the children passed--Caleb to 8th, Lydia to 6th and JoAnna to 2nd. She was particularly impressed with the things that Caleb has been able to learn up at the MMS hangar on Thursdays...thanks Dave!!!

In December we adopted (and lost our hearts to) a sweet little fur ball named Maia (My-uh). She is a Bichon Frise (Bee-shon Free-zay). In March we adopted Maia's half sister and named her Tessa. We have found that the puppies have helped us in the healing process.

One of our favorite things to do is take them to the baseball fields here in Warsaw. We close the gates and take off the leashes and let them run. What a blast to watch them race around after each other. We usually run around and have them chasing us. It's great exercise for all of us. I think I need to get the yard fenced in so that they can run whenever they want.

One day the girls took Maia and Tessa out to play and when they came in I laughed and had to have pictures. The girls claim that the puppies found the huge mud puddle in the front yard...I wonder how much help they needed to find the puddle?!?!?!?! The pictures show after the puddle and before the girls cleaned them up...it was also the time we spent laughing at how funny they looked all wet and muddy. The next picture is them getting their bath. The final picture is JoAnna holding a clean and dry Tessa.

JoAnna turns 7

2008-08-02T21:16:00.012-04:00

What an eventful weekend and it's not even over yet!! Friday was JoAnna's 7th birthday. She wanted pancakes and raspberry syrup for breakfast. (On Wednesday JoAnna and I spent the day up in the Kidron area and one of our stops was the Smucker's store...where we bought the raspberry syrup.) She didn't want to have her birthday supper and cake until Saturday b/c Lydia would be home to share it with us. She really missed Lydia this week. Missing Lydia did not, however, change her desire to open presents on Friday afternoon.

I have to admit I missed her, too. We love to walk the puppies at night and enjoy the quiet to talk. It's a great time alone with her, she really opens up and shares so much. It's great exercise, also.

On Friday evening we went to the church for a camp out. It was a wonderful evening sharing with brothers and sisters in Christ. A guy from our church grew up in a family that sang together and they came to sing for us. They have a bluegrass, southern gospel style. I really liked the songs b/c they were filled with hope. Hope for our future as believers...what's waiting for us there. Caleb stayed at the church, but JoAnna and I came home to take care of the pups.

We left early this morning to fetch Lydia from camp. I pulled up and scanned the crowd and immediately found Lydia...she was the one bouncing up and down. That's so like Lydia.

We then went to the church for more fun. They had this plastic sheet on the hill...lots of water...lots of soap...you get the picture. Caleb had just come off the plastic and was sliding on the grass. The kids had a blast. JoAnna went down once and decided that was enough. They had a water balloon launcher and were trying to hit Pastor Cal with water balloons. Someone brought a cornhole game. The kids tried their hand at that, also. All in all it was a good morning. Caleb, Lydia and I all took naps this afternoon.

Tonight we celebrated JoAnna's birthday. She wanted the shells and cheese (made popular with the Abernethy children b/c it was one of daddy's favorites) and she helped make it. She chose a horse cake and even wanted to give the horses to Lydia...I think she really missed her sister this week.

Now all is settled down and quiet. As I reflect on the past 7 years of JoAnna's life I can't help but think of how different things could have been. If Dr. Prior had not been there my heart hurts thinking of the things Caleb and Lydia would have had to deal with. I thought about that often in those months following Chris' death...Caleb and Lydia would truly have been orphans. Then I think of God in His wonderful grace and how His hand reached down and guided the doctor to keep JoAnna and I here for His purposes. Every year I send a "Thank You for JoAnna's birthday" card to Dr. Prior, who stepped in and saved us. JoAnna means...God's gracious gift. That she truly is.

Caleb & JoAnna enjoying their summer

2008-07-29T21:51:00.004-04:00

Caleb is also an avid reader...when he can put his Legos down. He found this book (one of his reading books for school this year) early this afternoon and finished it by this evening. He also has a soft spot when one of the pups wants to snuggle. Tessa is taking advantage of that here.

JoAnna and I went to the pool this afternoon. I had so much fun with her. I watched her come down the slide and as soon as she hit the water she immediately started to "swim" to the side. I also took her to the dividing rope (between the shallow and deep ends). She hugged me and we giggled and laughed as we splashed around. It was a treat to spend time with her. I got sunburned a little...even though we use SPF 60!!! When I got home I realized that the medicine I am taking warns the user to not be exposed to the sun for long periods. OOPS!

Camping

2008-07-28T22:39:00.009-04:00

This past weekend Caleb went on a campout with two of the men who lead his mentoring class and 5 other young men from the mission. He had a good time and did the devotion before communion on Sunday morning. When I asked him how it went he said, "I'm not sure it came out the way I had organized it in my brain. But it was okay."

I was also able to get this picture of Caleb in the Kodiak airplane...he's behind David.

Lydia is away at camp this week. The house is pretty quiet. Maia keeps walking around looking in the rooms like something's just not right. I think she's looking for Lydia. I am sending Lydia a care package. In the package are a few things from Tessa and Maia: A bag of dog bone treats and some stuffed dogs for padding. I will send her some other goodies, but the dogs just had to get their paws in there.

JoAnna is starting to read her reader books for this coming school year. She has really taken off in her reading and she loves it. At the right she is reading one of her all time favorites "Shh!! Don't Wake Up Mama." to Maia. On the left DeeDee (the dolly) is being read to.

JoAnna's missing Daddy

2008-07-26T20:54:00.004-04:00

JoAnna came out tonight crying and saying that she misses her Daddy. When this happens we always pray and ask Jesus to give him a big hug from JoAnna and to tell him that she misses him and can't wait to see him again. I think, in some ways, this has been hardest on her, b/c she had the least amount of time with Chris. She, also, doesn't have as many memories so I think sometimes she is afraid of forgetting her daddy. Last summer I found my 35mm camera and it had a roll of film in it. I took it to Wal-Mart and explained that the battery was dead, but I didn't want to buy one battery just to get the roll of film. I also explained that I didn't know if the film was rewound and I wasn't sure what was on it. I told her that it may have pictures of my late husband and I didn't want to loose them--if there were. She took the camera and was able to develope the film. I found pictures of Chris the night he returned from Suriname and saw the redone kitchen for the first time. I also found pictures of JoAnna and Chris snuggled on the couch studying her AWANA Cubbie book. I found this "Daddy's Girl" frame for JoAnna's birthday and I knew exactly which picture to put in it. :) She keeps the picture on her school desk.

I am really enjoying this blog...it is a nice way to keep everyone up to date on what the children and I are up to. I hope you enjoy it, too.

Caleb and Lydia's big day

2008-07-25T09:26:00.008-04:00

Yesterday, Caleb spent most of his day mowing the lawn at MMS. The end of the day brought a wonderful surprise. He had the privilege of going up in the new Kodiak airplane. He was so excited when he told us about it. I asked him if he knew how jealous his father would be. Chris had been watching the development of this airplane and looked forward to how it would impact mission aviation. I have really noticed a big change in Caleb since he has started spending his Thursdays at MMS. He was starting to get to that sullen teenage stage. Since starting in the hangar he has opened up and I can get him discussing anything...especially the ideas he comes up with in his head. I learned at the MMS conference this year that Caleb is an idea person. Josh, one of the guys in our hangar right now, is also an idea person. I was able to "pick his brain" and come up with some ways to 'help' Caleb. I am trying really hard to be a good listener and to encourage his idea personality.

Lydia plans to show Maia (My-uh), one of our Bichons, at the Coshocton County Fair in September. In order to go to the fair she had to go before 2 different judges and answer questions about her project book. She had her interview last night and both judges were very impressed by her confidence, poise and ability to keep eye contact with them. She has really enjoyed this project and has grown from doing it. This picture is when Maia was a bit younger and she had fallen asleep in Lydia's arms. I think Lydia's face says it all!!!

Setting up my blog

2008-07-21T23:21:00.002-04:00

I am learning so much about computers now that my computer guy is in heaven. I just put out my first newletter without Chris' help. He would be so proud of me. Just days before he departed for his eternal home Chris told me that I was stronger than I thought I was. I think he knew I had it in me to do these things, but I had just relied on him for so long to take care of them. If he were here this whole blog would be done already...and it would NOT have polka dots on it!!