Happy Thanksgiving!

We want to wish all of our friends and family a Happy Thanksgiving!
"Accept, O Lord, our thanks and praise for all that you have
done for us. We thank you for the splendor of the whole
creation, for the beauty of this world, for the wonder of life,
and for the mystery of love.

We thank you for the blessing of family and friends, and for
the loving care which surrounds us on every side.

We thank you for setting us at tasks which demand our best
efforts, and for leading us to accomplishments which satisfy
and delight us.

We thank you also for those disappointments and failures
that lead us to acknowledge our dependence on you alone.

Above all, we thank you for your Son Jesus Christ; for the
truth of his Word and the example of his life; for his steadfast
obedience, by which he overcame temptation; for his dying,
through which he overcame death; and for his rising to life
again, in which we are raised to the life of your kingdom.

Grant us the gift of your Spirit, that we may know him and
make him known; and through him, at all times and in all
places, may give thanks to you in all things. Amen."
From the Book of Common Prayer

Gardening Season ending

Well I guess it's high time to get back to the blog or at least to decide if I want to continue my blog. Do you think that blogging is beginning to be passe or am I just too busy to find time to sit and write? Our garden hung in there despite extreme drought conditions and we actually had a good tomato crop....but everything else, grass, etc is burnt to a crisp! Now this week we have finally gotten rain. There's no predicting what the winter will bring to Cincinnati.
My mom has arrived from Buffalo and we are all thrilled to have her again. We are catching up on everything and beginning to plan what we want to do during her visit. The boys are especially excited to have Grammee here for Thanksgiving this year. It's been 10 years since she had Thanksgiving in Cincinnati!

Sunday is Grandparent's Day

Click to play | Make your own Smilebox

My first BRAND NEW car!

They brought me into the showroom and there was my car under a big red silk cover! The salesman pulled the cover off and here's what I saw: My deep blue 2007 Saturn Ion 4 door sedan with a sunroof! I am so EXCITED!

I feel like royalty! The car came with free "On Star" - so I got to sit in the air-conditioned car and talk to my representative to set up my phone & stuff. The car has 21 miles on it :)

This is like a dream! Here are a few more pictures.
And I didn't tell the boys - so when I got home, I called from the car and asked them to come out to help me in the driveway... SURPRISE! Everyone is really excited - especially Daniel who now will no longer worry that his mother will have to drive him to college each day! He will be driving my "old" car (which is really a great little Beretta my mom gave me!) Well, that's my BIG NEWS!

TOMORROW'S THE BIG DAY!

Check back tomorrow evening after 6 PM for the first news!

Get ready for a big announcement!

It's high time for me to get back to my blog and to kick it off I am letting all of you know that I will be posting a special announcement on Thursday! So remember to check back here in two days to hear about my big surprise! You'll be one of the first to know!

Happy President's Day!

Just finished making chicken enchiladas for 15 - Daniel's Robotics Club needs lunch today. Even though school is out - they are meeting as their deadlines for competition end soon. The recipe is a Kathy-designed one, looking at several sources. I will post it to my recipe blog - as it turned out really good! And if you cook the chicken ahead of time in the crockpot - it is quick to put together.
I'm going to put in a few hours at work today, even though our office is closed - just to catch up from being on vacation. With the banks and post offices closed, I can't do much - but I can have everything ready for tomorrow and get a little jump start on the week.
It's still cold, but nothing like the past few days. Right now it's 35 and hopefully we'll hit 40 today. All the ice is beginning to melt. Well, time to get those enchiladas out of the oven and over to the school.

Beauty in Cincinnati

I came home from my 2 weeks in Houston yesterday during a sleet storm. No problems on the flight but once we landed in Dayton it took 2 1/2 hours to drive home - as long as it took me to fly from Texas! What a rude awakening - back to snow and ice. But God is so gracious - He gave us a beautiful sunny day today to ease my homecoming and the beauty of the trees covered in ice cannot be described adequately so here are some pictures

A Picture is worth 1000 words

GALVESTON

CINCINNATI

Wednesday in Houston

We had the opportunity to visit the Houston Holocaust Museum today.

It was similar to Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. Excellent displays, heart-wrenching pictures and films. Important for everyone to see. They also had a special exhibit about Rwanda. "Through the Eyes of Children" is an exhibition of children's photography from orphans of the Rwandan Genocide. A country roughly the size of Massachusetts and located in central Africa, Rwanda was the site of one of the most horrible events in history. As a result of ethnic clashes between the Hutu and Tutsi populations, the 1994 genocide left nearly 1 million people dead in approximately 100 days and caused the flight of 2 million internally displaced persons and 2 million refugees. I was glad to see that they were working to spread the word about the atrocities that are happening right now during our lifetime.

Another beautiful day here - almost 80 and sunny. The weather is about to turn and they are expecting lower temps by Friday. But with Cincinnati having snow and temps in the teens - I won't complain about 58!

72 today in Houston!

And I know all of you up north wish you were here! It is beautiful. Drove up to College Station and Texas A & M yesterday to visit the Bush Museum. It was very nicely laid out and my mother and I really enjoyed looking at the displays. They have a special section right now of all the famous Texans - so that was very interesting also. My favorite part was a display of every president's picture and a sample of their signature.

Today my Uncle Dick and Aunt Kay are driving up from Mission Texas for a visit. Can't wait to see them. I will try to get some pictures of Georgia & Jim's house loaded up soon. Looks like we might be able to try out the pool if this weather keeps up!

Way to Go Colts!

What a great superbowl! And I was so excited that both the owner and the coach of the Colts were not afraid to give God the glory and declare to the world that they are Christians.
Texas Trip Briefs:
Friday night dinner at Applebee's - great time with Georgia & Jim & my mom!
Saturday: walked around neighborhood with Georgia - they have a neat trail around a waterfall. Good exercise - great conversation! Then Georgia took Mom & I to Old Town Spring and we visited a few shops, made a few purchases and got some sugar-free chocolate at the Dutch store. My aunt has learned that sugarfree chocolate should be eaten in moderation - I'll let it go at that.
We travelled north about an hour to Lovelady where my cousin and her husband live on a little ranch. We were able to celebrate their son's 12th birthday and it was nice to meet Ben and his family. I got to go to the field and meet the cows also! Now I don't just want a farm, a ranch would be even greater!
Sunday: Church in Conroe at the Lord of Life Lutheran Church - really great service. And a driving tour of where Georgia used to live, including a stop at Lake Conroe. Just beautiful and 65 degrees today! Lunch at Cracker Barrel. Georgia and Jim had to work on the pool and I enjoyed sitting in the sun. Made Skyline Chili dip for the superbowl and at halftime Jim had grilled Angus steaks over pecan wood - the best steak I've ever had! Topped off by a Colt's win and I am going to bed one happy girl today!
Tomorrow: Bush Museum!

Arrived in Texas

Despite lightening hitting the airfield at Houston causing us to land in Louisiana and wait for clearance - we arrived safely yesterday only 90 minutes late. My cousin Cammy and her 2 year old Jackson waited patiently at the airport for us. Jackson loved riding the little "train" that runs between terminals, so Cammy assures us it wasn't too much of an inconvenience for her. We are excited to see my aunt Georgia's new home and even though they just moved in - she has it decorated so nicely. Mom and I feel like royalty in our beautiful bedrooms.
I will keep you all updated here on what we are doing. Today we enjoyed a leisurely morning to celebrate our vacation and to recover from our 3 AM wake up call yesterday to catch our plane.
We found out that Dayton airport security is much more strict than Buffalo's and several items that my mom was able to bring through security there didn't make it through at Dayton.
We've had our devotions, breakfast, I tried out my aunt's nordic track trainer, got our showers and are headed out for The Woodlands Market Square - cute shops and a river walk.
More later!

Going to Texas!

Well mom arrived safely yesterday - but not her luggage!! Can you believe on a direct flight they couldn't keep up with one piece of luggage! We've been notified that they have located it and it has arrived in Cincinnati and will be delivered to my house today - SOMETIME between 8 am and 8 pm! Thankfully we scheduled a lay-over here in Cincinnati before our Texas leg of the trip - so we have time for it to get here. It was a pretty hard trip for her to make alone - so I'm glad I'll be with her going to Texas. We are so excited to see Georgia & Jim and their family and Dick and Kay are down there for the winter also - Texas must be the place to be! So we will have a wonderful visit. It's supposed to snow in the morning - so everyone pray that we get to the airport on time, safely and our trip goes off without a hitch. Well, I'd better go finish packing! More later from Texas!

Cooking and cleaning

Since I will be gone for 2 weeks at the beginning of February - I am doing alot of dinners for Daniel's robotics team. Last week I made Lasagna for 35 and last night spaghetti casserole for 35. Tonight I am taking in dessert. Wednesday is my day off and it is a snowy day - so I am going to clean the "grandma" room - getting ready for my mom to come next week and then clean my crafting space in the basement and work on some hand-made cards. Nice inside projects! Mom and I will be heading off to Georgia's new home in Houston Texas on February 1st! I am so excited. I will be there until Feb 13th and mom will stay all month... a good month to be out of Buffalo...and Cincinnati!

Busy time of year

Most of the church's year-end statements have been finished and mailed out. I've spent all day today preparing the DMI's year-end statements. I will probably finish getting them in their envelopes and ready to mail by Monday. I will be so glad to have these huge jobs finished. Soon it will be time to start planning the garden and getting my seeds ready to plant. We've hit a real rainy spell but no snow yet. Possibly next week we'll finally get some. I hope it gets cold enough to kill off all the insects - or I'll have a real fight on my hands this spring & summer.

Happy Birthday Michael!

My oldest son, Michael, is 26 today. I cannot tell you how quickly the years have flown by - I treasure every precious memory of the joys and sorrows of raising my three sons! The Lord has blessed John and I so much - we have had so many, many wonderful joys as we have participated in their lives and very few times of tragedy. When a trial - illness, injury, accident - has come - God has been right there, seeing us through. It is with grateful hearts that we celebrate Michael's birth today. We are blessed yet again as all three boys are here together with us to enjoy Michael's choice of Southern Chicken Pie for dinner, followed by Mrs. B's wonderful Chocolate Share Cake (known to others as Texas sheet cake or Mississippi Mud Cake) - by whatever name it is a rich fudge cake that my guys love!
I heard today that our new windows will be installed next Wednesday - so I have extra encouragement to take down the Christmas decorations. We plan to do most of it on Saturday - which is Epiphany (or Kings' day). Thankfully we have had very little cold weather yet - so the windows are coming just in time.
One other thing I wanted to mention is one of my New Year's projects - I've gathered together a list of websites that one can use to have their quiet time. The first is a one-year bible site and you can either read the day's portion or choose to listen to it. If you are interested in the group of sites I plan to use each day I am posting the information here:
www.mommoboysprayerpage.zoomshare.com/1.shtml
I hope that having everything opening in tabs and being right at my fingertips will help me with a consistent quiet time.