Grandma's

We visited Grandma's while we were on vacation in Texas, and Dad and Ginger met us there. So we were able to get a 5 generation picture, with Grandma, Dad, Jenni, Sara, Chloe, and Kate. There is a picture of Stacy in the kitchen getting the kids a snack. One with Dad, Sara, Ginger, and Jenni. One with Grandma and her great great granddaughter Kate. And one with Dad, Jenni, Me, and Grandma. It was great to see Grandma, even though she does not like getting old, she was very happy to see her great great granddaughters.

No more assignments!!

I am doing the happy dance...I just turned in my last assignment for my last class!! It only took me eleven years, but I finally finished my bachelor's degree! And...I'm so excited, I just can't hide it!! What makes it more exciting is that I am leaving tomorrow for vacation to my brother's house in Texas (where my sister and her family are coming for vacation also), via my niece's house in Mississippi. I finally get to meet Kate!! And I cannot wait to see how all my nieces and nephews have grown, and to hug and kiss each of them!! What a wonderful graduation present for me, I am truly blessed...

A View of My Zoo:)

Here are some of my pets. Obi is the brown dog, Leia is the black dog, Turtoise (Turt) is our turtle, and Nim is our Kitty. We also have 3 parakeets (Shadow, Popeye, and Sunshine), and around 40 koi in the ponds out back.

Matt's first vehicle!

I got Matt a truck when he finished his first year at the tech center.

Happy 8th Birthday Carolanne!!

Carolanne's 8th Birthday party. She is growing so fast! She is excited about going back to school next year, and can't wait to have girlfriends her age. She wants to take ballet and piano lessons this year.

Tommy and Matt bought a house!

It definitely needs some tlc, but the boys are now homeowner's. They did a lot of work on the inside of the house before they moved in. They ripped up the carpet upstairs, sanded, and refinished the original wood floors (which look great). They painted most of the upstairs, and had to repair some major plumbing issues, and replace the toilet and sink in the upstairs bath. They have a shower downstairs in their laundry room, which they had to clean out and paint, and they will use the old toilet and sink to finish another bath downstairs. They still have lots of work to do, but they already have equity in the house, which is hard to come by these days.

Happy 20th Birthday Tommy!!

Sorry it had to be in the RV, but we were lucky to have heat! A storm came through and the winds were over 100 mph, knocked a 50 ft pine tree into the power line and knocked out our electricity for a couple of days. Unfortunately, we had to celebrate Tommy's 20th birthday in the RV. Tommy is also doing great, and will finish his associate's degree next spring.

And then came winter

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!! Winter is our down time, and if we are going to be stuck in the house, we might as well have a beautiful scene to look at outside.

Happy 6th Birthday Joey!!

Joey's 6th Birthday. He is a typical boy, has been losing teeth, learned how to ride his bike without training wheels, and also learned to read and write in cursive last year! He will be starting 1st grade this year!!

Happy 18th Birthday Matt!!

Matt's 18th Birthday. He is doing great, and has finished his first year at the technical center.

More backyard bliss

The deer come everyday up to the neighbors backyard to eat corn he puts out for them. This snake was a regular here last summer, as a result I no longer have frogs around my ponds:( Speaking of which, here are some of my koi in the top pond. I cleaned them out this summer, so there will definitely be more pics to come of the ponds!

Nature all around us

Every where we look the natural beauty of life is all around us. The deer are our regulars, and they come back each summer. The purplish looking tree is a miniature peach tree. That yellow moth was as big as my hand! The previous owners of my house did a wonderful job planting different flowers which even flower at different times. Absolutely beautiful!!

Garden 2008

One of my favorite things in the summer is my garden. Last years garden was wonderful, this year the dogs have already claimed the corn:(

Washington, D.C.

Our trip to Washington, D.C. We also got to enjoy the Marine Corps Color Guard, across the street from our hotel, what luck!!

Yeah, we have arrived at the hotel, which was no easy feat. We used the metro while we were in D.C. We were lucky enough to have Trista and Breonna join us on our trip.