PA Trip -Day 2- Friday

Friday morning I sat on the front porch with a cup of coffee, my Mom and Dad and sister.....what a great way to start a day! :)

This is the view from the porch.....

the bluebirds were coming in and out of the birdhouse on the left. There were a few babies in there!

One of the water lilies opened up!

One of Dad's creations..

Mom, Chris and I went to Horning's Market to stock up on some good things, Chris and I can't buy in the south! :) Dieffenbachs Potato Chips, Meunster Cheese and Lebanon Bologna. Oh, and they had bags of STARBUCKS coffee for only $2!!!! Wish I had bought more....

Later in the morning, Dad took us to see his latest job he is working at. Helping a taxidermist finish his new display room.

(They had just got done sanding the concrete floor.....excuse all the little spots! :P )

Showing us a real elephant ear, with an elephant painted on it! :)

The entrance to the new part....very nice!!

Mom hadn't gone with us, and when we got home, she was rearranging the living room. Dad stepped in and helped her! :)  

More relaxing and visiting on the front porch! Even though this isn't the house I grew up in, it didn't take long for it to feel like "home" after Mom and Dad moved in....convincing me even more that it's the people that make it "home"!! :)

Phil and Gina brought supper that evening.

Addison was a little shy. It took her a little to be brave enough to show me her doll. She is so cute!! :)

Koltin loves books. He just turned 6 and will be reading before long!!

 Baby Kinza~ She is such a happy little girl!

~Adoring big sister, Adorable little sister~

Supper time....there was no lack of yummy food all weekend!! :)

(some of the kids were eating in the basement)

Gina reading in spoonerism to her kids! :)

 I admire her....she is a true Proverbs 31 woman!!

Ashton wasn't much into listening to the story....he was having more fun running back and forth from the kitchen to the living room! :) 

Another picture of cute lil Kinza Jo!!

A few more of my siblings and their families came over that evening to visit, too. Tamara went home with the Noeckers to spend the night and the next day with her cousins Whitney and Miranda. 

More to come~

The Start of a Fun Trip

Two weeks ago, a friend of mine was looking for a ride for her daughter and another girl to PA for Passion 2012. I was so excited to be able to take them! Haven't been to PA since August 2011 and we really don't have any plans to go this year anymore. 

I let my sister Chris know that I had 2 empty seats, so she and her son Cody went along, too! :) It was nice to have a second driver!

The kids and I left Tuesday night, July 17 and drove to Chris' house in south GA. We spent the night there and then left her house at 4 AM the next morning.

{There was lots of moisture in the air that morning} :)

We drove to Albany, GA to pick up Karissa Peachey and Danita Hostetler. I was so glad Mark was along to help us load the cargo luggage bag and tie it down good!! The van would have been a little too full without it! 

We got to Dad's about 8:30 PM that night.....we had great travels! No traffic jams, accidents, or bad weather.....PTL!!

Thursday all my sisters came to Mom's to see us.

Lisa holding Gina's little girl, Kinza.

We just sat and chatted! :) My niece Amanda and her daughter Marcy are the whole way to the right.

I walked around and got some pictures of the nieces and nephews, too.

~Whitney, Tamara and Miranda~

The older boys....

Cody, Damian, Stephen, Jared, Zach and Danny

A group of the younger ones....

Addison, Koltin {"drinking" out of a toy baby bottle :) } Desirae and Emily

Older girls with the babies...

Tamara, Whitney holding Kinza, Anne, Miranda holding Kendall and Jodie

Karissa and Danita passing time till we had to head to camp.

And they are still visiting!! :)

My newest niece and nephew. This was the first time I met them!! :)

Kendall Burkholder (4 months old) and Kinza Bergey (6 months old)

Kinza showing off her rolling abilities....Kendall is thinking, "How'd you do that??" :)

Dad was home most of the day.....I wish this picture didn't get so blurry! 

This is so typical of Dad....always whistling...even while paying bills!  :)

We decided to take a "sisters" picture! :)

This was the best one I got.....someone has their eyes shut on ALL the rest!! :P

In order of age.....

Joanne, Chris, Lisa, Juanita, me, and Gina

This one was good too, but Slater got on the edge! :)

At 2 that afternoon, I took Karissa and Danita to Nottingham, PA, a 2 hour drive, to the girls camp. It was fun driving on familiar roads I don't see often and then through Lancaster and down into an area I'd never been in before. I was thankful for my trusty GPS....it got me where I was going every time. :)

As I was traveling down through, I realized that I would be right near the town where Dan's aunt and uncle live and work....they own Resource Rental and Sales near Quarryville. So, I called them and got directions to their store. Aunt Darlene gave us a little tour of the facilities.

I found out later that I was SO close to two of my childhood friends. I wish I had known then, because I haven't seen either of them in quite a few years!

BUT, after leaving Quarryville, the kids and I went and had supper with Marilyn Martin and her kids. It's always a great time!!

Tamara and Lauren playing Polly Pockets :)

After it got dark outside, the boys migrated inside and played baseball on the Xbox.

It was so different this year, having 3 young men, with changing voices and more grown up than last year....in heighth as well as actions! :) Good times!!

Watch for more pics later. We are watching the opening ceremony for the Olympics, so it's kind of hard to think what to type and actually do it, while listening to the show! :) Please pardon mistakes!! ;)

An Accomplishment

Over the past few years, I have pulled out my wedding dress from time to time, just to see if it would fit! I was determined that one day I would wear it again!! I don't remember for sure if I wore it on our first anniversary, but I KNOW that I haven't been able to wear it since then!

So, since last week was our anniversary, I decided to get it out and try it again! :) And.....it fit! :) Granted, my body is not quite the same shape it was back in 1996. Having babies will do that to you! ;) 

But, I am thrilled to reach this big goal in my life! :) 

{Dan thought I should do the hair puff too! ;) Haha...not sure I can pull that off anymore!}

And yes, I still have my bouquet although it is missing a few flowers and is looking a little worn. :)

I love this man! <3 He's such a sport for going along with this picture taking in the middle of a Sunday afternoon! :)

Props to Danny for taking the pictures! :)

So, now my next goal is to weigh LESS than I did when we got married, which I'm not sure how I will judge that, because I don't remember exactly what I weighed, although I have a good idea!

 Dan says that I wouldn't tell him how much I weighed when we got married, so he can't help me out there! ;)

I remember being embarrassed about how much I weighed, but what did I think....that he would love me less if he knew!?? :P So young, I was!

{I love seeing him come home every day. I am so blessed to have a faithful husband!!}

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This morning I woke up at 4 AM. My back was hurting and no position was comfortable, so after tossing and disturbing Dan's sleep for 30 minutes, I finally got out of bed and tried the recliner in the living room. That didn't help much, so I took an Excedrin Back and Body and tried again. {My muscles in my back are so tight!!} I just couldn't fall asleep, so I got up, grabbed my tablet with my "to-do" list for this week, listened to my daily Bible reading on my I-pod and folded a load of laundry left from Saturday! Then I packed Dan's lunch, made him coffee and took him breakfast. 

Yeh, by that time his alarm had went and he was up and getting ready for work.

I've been having a lot of trouble lately....either with falling asleep or waking during the night and not being able to go back to sleep. And I'm not caught up on sleep either! :P I don't know if this is just a part of getting older, or what the deal is?

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I am really excited that the kids and I have the opportunity to go see my family in PA this week, but I am going to miss my hubby so much!! :( I think he is kind of looking forward to having some alone time, though, so that makes it a little easier to leave him! He's says a guy needs about 1 week a year to himself, so I guess this is his week! :)

The guys serviced the van for me on Saturday, so it's ready for the trip. Danny checked all the fluid levels and the tire pressure, and they both washed it while I cleaned the inside!

So, today we tackle the rest of the list and hope to only leave the packing for tomorrow....we'll see how that goes! :)

16 Years

16 years ago today, I became Mrs. Dan Henry!! :)

This is a pic taken in May this year. :)

I'd say life has been good to us! I'm ready for another 16 years and I know they'll be even better than the first 16!! 

I made a video for Dan with our favorite song and pictures of our life along the way! Hope you enjoy it! :)

{making it full screen makes it easier to see, but it pixelates the pictures more! :P}

Anniversary Day-Away

This Friday, July 13, is our 16th Anniversary!! <3

Last weekend Danny was invited to some friends for a campout from Fri. night till Sunday, so we thought Sat. a perfect day for Dan and I to get away for an anniversary celebration. The only thing was to find a place for Tamara. It's times like this that I miss my family. It took me literally ALL week to find a place for her to stay!! :P And it's not because she's a bad kid or a lot of work!! People are just busy!

Thankfully, my friend Emily offered on Friday, so the date was on! :)

We had originally planned to go to Thomasville, GA because we have a certificate for a bowling alley there, but Sat. morning I did a  little research and discovered the bowling alley didn't open till 5 PM and Thomasville is an hour and a half from here. It just didn't fit well into our supper plans either, so we decided just to go to Tallahassee. BUT, we didn't want to just go shopping! We really were trying to spend as little $$ as possible and really didn't NEED anything!

Our first stop was Alfred Maclay Gardens State Park

$6 for parking

We had never been here before, but we are making plans to go back next spring when the azalea's are in bloom! :)

This was the entrance to the garden and this brick path went the whole way through it. You could also take side paths for more walking.

~Lake Hall~

Enjoying the peaceful lake and the sounds of nature....and each other's company! :)

 One of the "side path's"

Pretty spidery flowers!

This was a cute little garden, in the garden! :) You can't see the pink flowers {above} very well in this pic! :P

Just one of the huge live oak trees full of Spanish Moss!

Another tree that had a branch that grew down to the ground and was starting a new tree off of it!! :O Crazy!

Our next stop was Hobby Lobby....I was looking at dress and skirt patterns for Tamara. Didn't purchase anything, because I want to keep looking! I wasn't real thrilled with their pattern prices! 

Then we went to Eternal Grounds Coffee Shop! 

I had a $10 gift card and we spent $3 over that! 

Dan got a Iced Lemonade and a Pistachio muffin :)

I got a cinnamon roll and a Mocha Frappe'.

They have sofa's, games, magazines, and free wifi! We played our own version of Apples to Apples Bible edition. It was a lovely atmosphere and I hope to go back again!

Next, we went to the Museum of FL History.

The kids and I have been there twice on field trips, but this was Dan's first visit. They put in some new exhibits since we were last there, so that was neat!

Dan hanging out with Mr. Friar Monk Man! :)

When we got back out to the parking garage we discovered parking is Free on weekends! *score!!

For supper, we planned to use a gift card we had for Olive Garden. Well, about half way through the day, we realized that neither of us had grabbed it! ;) *sigh*

So, we decided to eat at Genghi's Grill. 

They bring you a small bowl and you go through a "buffet line" of raw meat, veggies, seasonings, etc. then take your bowl to the grill and they stir fry it....

I had just missed the big flames on the grill....they really like to put on a show! :)

And this is our meals when they brought them to our table....it doesn't look like much, but it is FILLING!!

The best part of mine was the cilantro I added! :)

An evening meal is $9.99 a person plus drinks. Lunch is $8.99.....or for $4 more, you can make it bottomless! We didn't do that....you'd have to have a huge appetite for that!!

It was a really good day! We didn't rush from one thing to the next, just took our time and had FUN!! I can hardly believe it's been 16 years already!! But I am so exited about our future. We are going through the book "Real Marriage" by Mark & Grace Driscoll in our small group and it is really helping us work through issues we have!! I can't wait to see how much better things can be since we are understanding each other's {and our own} quirks better! :)

And I'm also amazed that we are not alone in the struggles of marriage. I know, that sounds weird, but sometimes I just think other couples must have it all together! I'm discovering that is not often the case!!

I thank God for the journey He has placed Dan and I on from that first day we met in August, 1994 till now! 

Cheers to the next 16 years!! :)

Memory Lane..................

Dating Days

{At Fresh Start in IN on chorus tour}

Married, but before kids!

Dan, Danny (2) and Tamara (newborn-2001)

Our little family!

:)