OUR GIRLS!!

We actually had our first small snowfall that delayed school for the first time this year. The girls were excited. And Mommy was ever so thankful that I actually went yesterday & spent the money for four new tires for the van. Merry Christmas to us! Whew that was a chunk! Thank the Lord Philip has been able to do a couple of kitchen installation jobs on the side & provided the funds for this & then last night when he got home he said his truck is having some fuel problems. So.... guess where the rest of the money goes? The Lord knows what lies ahead. Although we would've preferred to use that money another way - God knows best!

These are some pictures I took of the girls this fall. With their "favorites". MaKayla Joy loves her tiger & also has a deep desire to learn the piano. We've tried some at home , but unfortunately Mommy hasn't been faithful:(. Hannah has taken violin lessons for 3 years now! Hard to believe! She's been fascinated with a violin since she was 5 or 6. She's enjoying lessons still & would like to add piano to that also. Julissa - our little giggle-box - she enjoys stuffed animals, riding her bike & giggling. Not really into an instrument yet, although she's mentioned flute a few times.

Daddy is interested in "kitchens" - wonder why? His job is going well. Thankfully he is still getting in his full time of hours. He has offered his services to install a couple of smaller kitchen jobs lately. We miss him being home - but as mentioned before the $ has been ever so helpful. He said that he really enjoys his time working on the installations, So that's good.

Mommy is keeping busy with running the home, back & forth to school, violin lessons, homework (rarely :)), and my parti-time job at the bank. My plate feels very full sometimes. But .... things just have to be done. This past week at the bank we had a robbery - so that was a 1st for me. Thankfully noone was injured. He never showed a weapon. He was in and out within a minute or so. Let me be the 1st to tell you - Crime really doesn't pay! Someone that's desperate & searching for an easier way. It's sad - but it was also very scary for those of us involved. It a matter of 60 seconds he changed the way we drive home, how we walk outside, lock the doors & pull the blinds & look at people with caution now. It's unfortunately the world we live in today. We feel that this is only the beginning because of the way our economy is at the moment.

Thanksgiving will be here shortly & gives us all many reasons to be greatful for the blessings of God! We've tried to teach the girls that they need to always think of things to be thankful for & not just ask God for things. They've been doing such an awesome job in their prayers at night - praying for the requests that they hear at church. Adults that they don't even know. People in the nursing home, a little boy that's bound to a wheelchair for life (they pray for him every night) - who knows what God will do through the prayers of a little child. I hope they always know how good God is!!!

"Morning by morning , new mercies I see."

May God bless you abundantly during this season & that you recall many things to be "glad" about!

Love & Prayer -- Lynn & Philip

Hello - Where Are You???

I'm supposing that's what most of you are saying!! Yes Jodi - that means you! I don't have enough time to keep up with the normal things much less you all! SO..... you'll get something when I have the time & I want to endure our SLOW connection. Those of you with fast connection don't remember how LONG it actually takes to download 1 single picture! So.... thus today's post is with ...... no pictures :)

Update: Philip & I have moved the girls into our Church's Christian School now. They are happy with the change. They were doing fine in public school - but 5th grade was showing some obvious signs of needing a change. So we changed all 3! The are now adjusted to the new school system & are doing great! I'm impressed with the improvement of some grades too. Hannah is also started back with violin lessons after being off for 2 months in the summer. MaKayla is begging to start piano lessons. Julissa doesn't express much interest really - other than occassionally mentions the flute while we're at church.

I'm still working part-time at the bank - although some weeks they schedule me for 4 1/2 days which is too much for me. But we've lost 2 full time people & gained only 1 new full time. So... someone has to fill in the gap. It's nice for the pay, but..... Our bank is doing fine too - for those of you who may be wondering, during this financially unstable time. We are a local bank only with 8 branches & are locally owned. We have actually seen an increase of business during this time.

Philip is still busy working in the kitchen dept. at Keim Lumber. Charm Day Sales are coming up this weekend - so they will be extremely busy. These sale days generate a large number of people into that small community. He will be putting in some very long hours over this weekend for his customers to get their special sell prices that are only available during Charm Days. They did experience a small decrease in business during the summer - but Philip hasn't lost any time over this at all. They are very good to their employees at Keim. We are so thankful that both of us have good jobs.

I am enjoying my day off today. Obviously spending some time on the computer. How I long for a faster connection. The girls have a short day of school on Wed. - they're out at 1:30 - then it's off to violin lessons - then supper & church! Whew! Wednesday's are full days - imagine me trying to work most of the day plus squeeze all that in. Sometimes we do.

We had a litter of puppies of July 4th & they were sold in record time! Thank the Lord. This money helped us to get the girls enrolled in school & help us to get started on the school bill for the year! We've thought many times of not doing puppies, but..... we really enjoy having the babies while their here. Although MaKayla got extremely attatched to one puppy this time & spent many tears over it when he was chosen first! The girls would dearly love to be able to have a horse or animals of some type. It's nice we have to room - but the expense of a fence & barn are ..... rather large. So.... I guess we'll continue to wait & watch the weeds grow, since there are other things that take priority.

Well that's about all for now - I still have a few things - ha ha - who am I kidding - I still have many things to accomplish yet today before getting the girls! Love to all - Until.....next time!

MaKayla's School Play

It was "jungle" time at the school play! Most children were animals of some type. MaKayla and her class were monkeys! The kids sang lots of songs & had a great time. In fact we still hear lots of these songs at our house.... still...... "He's the mane man! He's insane man!" speaking of the mean ole' lion. But the mouse & he help each other out & find that they can be friends. The most hilarious part though would have to be seeing the little amish boy "rapping" out a song with 2 friends! Since the majority of the school is amish..... they usually dress Amish w/ their coverings and dresses & button up jeans w/ straps & their costume add-ons w/ it. He looks cute in his cap & sunglasses though. I'm supposing that's supposed to be his black tie down the front.

I'm still amazed that we're finishing up 1st grade already! She says she's ready for 2nd grade & wants to know how long? She loves her teacher - but is excited about another grade too. Check out those dark brown eyes & freckeles! Isn't she the cutest! ? I'm kinda' partial too - but I have the right! :)

Guess What Happened This Day in HISTORY!!!!

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1790 - United States Patent system established
1865 - American Civil War: A day after his surrender to Union forces, Confederate General Robert E. Lee addresses his troops for the last time.
1912 - The RMS Titanic leaves port in Southampton, England for her first and only voyage.
1924 - The first train robbery is reported in Greece outside the city of Larissa.
1953 - The first 3D film is released in New York.
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NOW FOR THE BIG NEWS! MY DADDY IS TURNING........... OLDER TODAY!!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY & POP-PAW - WE LOVE YOU LOTS AND LOTS!!!!

THANKS SO MUCH FOR PLAYING WITH US WHEN WE'RE HOME & FOR STARTING THE FIRE - SOMETIMES INSIDE & SOMETIMES OUTSIDE! YOUR THE GREATEST!!

Our Trip to WV's State Capitol

The girls & I took a trip to WV in January & spent the day as tourist with my Mom-maw & Aunt Gail. Although it was extremely cold that day - we had a blast & enjoyed spending time with these 2 wonderful people! If you didn't know Charleston's Capitol Dome is overlayed in real gold! (Although they should've spent the money on the roads.) The crystal chandalier was taken down months before & taken to a special place to be cleaned. It had just been put back up that week. The black bear is the state animal & Julissa was fascinated by the one in the hallway. Although a little leary to pose beside of him. Of course I had to take a picture of the statue of the coal miner. My Daddy was a coal miner for most of my life. I remember being so excited for Daddy to come home from work & I'd check his bucket to see what he left me to eat. I also can remember times when we'd get word that there had been a cave-in at the mines, not knowing if Daddy was OK or not. My greatest memories of my Pop-paw is getting to ride in the big coal truck & blowing the horn. My Mom was never amused at the coal dust that came along with the ride. Coal mining was definately in our blood. Thankfully, noone in my family has been killed in this dark underground world.

Let's Introduce **MaKayla Joy **

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MaKayla & JR (Mom-maws cat)

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(An older picture - but a favorite)

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Our Middle child --- MaKayla Joy --- thinks that it's her turn. So.... here we go. MaKayla loves to smile! She's has a beautiful smile & cheeks full of freckles. Of course she like other things too - swimming, animals, riding bicycle, exploring in the woods, catching frogs, and playing with friends & cousins! We recently took the girls to a local hotel , that we sometimes spend an "overnight" at, to use the pool & jump on the beds :) They're too big to jump on the beds at home now - so you can partially blame us for the conditions of SOME hotel beds. But then again.... maybe you've been there jumping too! The girls enjoy spending time in the pool. We've learned what times to go to avoid most of the people.

In the fall we will spend a long weekend up in Michigan with our family each year. There we spend time chasing frogs, riding w/ Uncle Brian in the boat to go fishing, playing in the water & generally just having the time of our lives!

MaKayla also enjoys school very much. She really likes her teachers & loves reading & writing. Gym class is everyones favorite - except for the "stretches". (That's how I feel too - except I'm not in gym class anymore.) She would like to start taking piano lesson soon. She loves to play her at home. Now she needs a better teacher :)

Nap time was NEVER something she wanted! She was always afraid of missing something. In fact.... she says she looks forward to heaven.... because she'll not ever have to go to sleep . Childrens Church & Sunday School are exciting times on Sunday. We're so thankful we attend a Super Church that have some great leaders for our children!

"Me & My Mom wish we had a four-wheeler! I love riding with Pop-paw, on his four-wheeler. Mommy took us out once & we even saw a deer. We would really have fun with one at our house."

"We have 2 dogs - our yellow lab is "Cookie" & the chocolate lab is "Kanga" . We have 3 cats & some fish. We now how 4 baby fish to watch grow. We have them in my room. We like to watch them. Last Fall we had a liter of puppies ... there were 3 chocolates & 4 yellow labs. "

And that's the story of our middle child MaKayla Joy (Joybelle -Freckles)

FUN IN THE SNOW!!!!!

Our winter storm a few weeks ago was a blast for us!
Philip & I both were able to stay home & enjoy the time
"playing" in the snow with the girls! Of course we had
to shovel our way out of the basement first & then try to make our way to the porch to unshovel the door & the walk. In many places the snow was about 18 - 24"! It was super! The dogs loved it! It was very difficult to play in actually. we had lots of work to do at first. But it was still great! Thankfully our neighbor saw our plight.....and he plowed out the driveway for us. The girls then had their own personal sled runs. 3 HUGE piles of snow around the driveway. They were about 5' high each. All of us had so much fun in the snow. Philip doesn't often get to sled ride with the girls - but this was an exception. He had fun "showing off" for his girls. Of course he sorta' had a mishap or two - as you can see in the picture. :) He's an awesome Daddy!
I'm so glad that we were able to have a BIG snow to
remember with the girls! Hope you all had fun too!

Hannah's 11th Birthday! Happy Birthday Dear Hannah ! ! ! ! !I can't believe that Hannah is 11 years old today! Do you remember how LONG it took her to get here? I sure do! And now she's growing up so fast! Getting into the "girlie" things - look out Daddy! We surprised the girls this morning & got them up at 7:30 (Philip took the day off) and we headed down to COSI in Columbus (we also took Gramma along). We had a super day inside - since it was raining outside. There are so many awesome things to do there! We were busy busy busy all day! The adults were worn out at the end of the day - but the girls we cranked after napping on the way home. Typical isn't it? Our favorite things were - the black hole in space & it's spinning walls (thank goodness for handrails), cheering for "Mary-Anne" our rat- playing basketball (we lost :( ), the IMAX theater about Greece, and of course .... the element of surprise! We've also included a picture of the unicycle ride.... Philip was in line to ride but they closed the line - due to so many school groups that they wanted to be sure they could ride. Look like fun to you? Me neither! This is actually the only high-wire unicycle in the Country that is available for you to ride.

*Hannah received her presents from cousins in Michigan inside of this TRIX box. How exciting that was!

Welcome to "US" !!

WELCOME - I Think!! Well this should prove to be exciting! I was hoping that I will be able to share some pics on here that most of you may never get the opportunity to see otherwise :) And obviously I'm not up on my scrapbooking yet! (sorry Myranda) So..... this will definitely be a trial & many many errors as I go. Some sites look sooo nice. I don't think I'll get there anytime soon though. So try not to expect too much out of me. Hopefully you'll enjoy something & laugh a little - or alot. If so - we've succeeded! We're just out to share some memories with you too !

p.s. If I could figure out how to add the pictures I'll be happy at this point. :(