Trippin'

Wednesday, August 15, at 3:00 AM found us sitting in the van, ready for a 15 hour trip to Ohio!

The children were excited, but rubbing sleepy eyes and reaching for their pillows. Tamara had a flashlight and pulled out a book she had bought at Goodwill the day before, but Danny's eyes went shut.

The adults were chugging coffee and chatting, ready to get some hours behind them! :)

So began the trip to Cambridge, OH for my nephew Javin's wedding the next evening!! :)

Riding for hours and hours requires lots of boredom busters. For the kids, it was listening to their MP3's, watching movies, reading, playing alphabet games, and other creative things. 

For the adults, it was listening to music, reading and talking. :) And taking a few pictures....

This was in Tennessee.....

I had packed breakfast and lunch for Wed. which meant other than bathroom and gas stops, we kept chugging down the road! 

It has been over 20 years since I was through Kentucky, and Dan had never been, so it was interesting driving through some different scenery.

Empty cattle/hog trailer

My sis, Chris and I were texting off and on. They had left from south GA about the same time of the morning as we did and were traveling a different route. Wondering who would arrive at our destination first? :)

Taking random pics of trucks and truckers...caught this guy looking back! :)

After seeing mountain and valleys, this was an interesting view! Looked like we were going to drive off into the sky!

Kentucky has lots of rock!!

Munchies!!

Coming into Cincinatti, Ohio! Only 3 1/2 hours to go....

We got to the church where the rehearsal had been held, around 6:30 PM. Dwayne's had beat us there by about an hour. My parents and brother Lynn {and family}, who's son was getting married, were also there. The rest of my siblings that were able to come, would arrive in the morning.

My brother Lynn with his grandson, Asher {who just moved from Ontario to MO} :)

Found some hardworking ladies in the kitchen, cleaning up the rehearsal supper.

Chris, Aggie {my nephew Kendon's wife} and Mom. Lisa, mother of the groom, is on the phone in the pic above.

 And some cousins that were happy to be together again :)

Wedding pics coming next~

Cancun.....

Okay, so the title might be a little misleading. It would be really fun to be blogging about a trip to Cancun!! ;)

But, instead, it was a trip to Cancun's Mexican Grill! :)

With Friends!!

Our friends, Eric & Yolie Miller wanted to take us out to eat to celebrate Dan's graduation. We were finally able to make our schedules mesh last night. :)

We hadn't been to Cancun's since January 2007, when Conrad & Chris Riehl came to FL to visit!! This is a pic from that visit! :) We made some good memories and I learned how to say Solo para los Nino's!! :) I think! ;)

(Wow, Eric, you can see the results of your hard work!!)

This is a pic from 2007~

 After supper, we went back to Eric's house for coffee and blueberry muffins....

We enjoyed sitting on the front porch and watching the sky take on a beautiful glow as the sun set.

Am so thankful for friends!!  

Life is hard and a little confusing right now....a lot of things on my mind...trying to be content (a big one!!), trying to do my best as a wife, mom and homeschool mom. Wishing for more....wishing for some changes. But only God knows our future at this point. I think He is pruning me, but it's so hard! :P

I want our family to be in His will!

Goodnight~ 

New Chairs

Back when we still lived in PA, we bought two wooden Adirondack chairs at a yard sale. We loved them, but over time they started falling apart. This spring, Dan took the worst of the two apart and made a pattern out of it.

The beginning of July, he and Danny got the wood to start on new ones. I think July 4th, they started on the first chair.

Cutting....

gluing....

fastening with screws....

And then life got busy and the project sat for a couple weeks.

Dan had off work on Friday {He has Friday's off when he has to work in the prison on Sundays}

So this was the perfect day to finish the project!! :)

Making pre-drilled holes...

Fastening on the arms.....

Pre-drilling the back pieces....

It's taking shape!!! :)

They make a great team!

Fastening the back pieces...

And this is the finished project.....unless I decide to stain or paint them! :)

What would you recommend??

I like it!! :)

Carrying the finished product to the front porch.

 I didn't take a picture of it on the porch because our porch is SO messy right now...it's rather embarrassing. That is one of my goals for this week....it needs a makeover in a BAD way!!

Maybe I'll try to take before and after pics when I work at it! :) I gotta be real, ya know?? ;)

Have a great week!! 

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world." -John 16:33

PA Trip- Day 4 & 5- Sunday, Monday

Sunday morning, there was a doe and her fawn across the road on the neighbor's lane.

Went to my parent's church. It was a new experience for my children....they don't remember sitting segregated at all. It was so good to see people I haven't seen in years.....all these young kids that Dan taught in school, now have families! :) 

Darrin and Tina came to Dad's for lunch.

After lunch, Cody, Alanna, and Tamara played Chutes & Ladders.

Tina, Chris, Mom and I played Racko.

It was really quiet and I wondered what everyone was up to.....found Darrin's 3 kids sitting quietly coloring in the basement! :) Cody was drawing and Tamara was reading....it's just unusual to have it be that quiet! :)

Ethan and Deb came by later in the afternoon.

Darrin, kindly giving his wife a foot rub. :) She was nearing the end of her pregnancy. In fact, their big guy was born July 26. Archer Kemp weighed 11 lb. 5 oz. and was 22 inches long! Another big boy for their family!!

My family is flexible. :) Danny was showing how he can plant his foot flat on the middle of his chest. He can also put his foot behind his head.

So then the guys had to try the dollar bill  thing. They set a dollar bill up on the floor and had to bend down and get it with their mouth without touching the floor with their hands.

Ethan did it a little different way....

Face Plant!! :) He did get it the next time!

Danny tries it....

And Toby, too! :) He is so cute!

The party moved outdoors! :)

Toby checks out Grandma's "spinner" that keeps the water from getting stagnant in the bird bath.

I was so thrilled that Karissa and Danita were able to find a ride to Myerstown. It was so nice to only have to drive 20 minutes to pick them up, instead of 2 hours!!

After having no cell phones for the weekend, I think they were catching up on texting!! :)

Darrin, John and Dad

Danny and Uncle Ethan

 Miranda, Lisa, Tina (and unborn Archer), Chris, Mom and Deb

The little kids were having fun flying down the hill on the "inch worm".

Uncle Ethan made the little kids day by pushing them all over the yard in the wagon! :)

We woke up at 3:30 AM Monday morning and started for home at 4:10. It was a long day but more good travels. The only slow traffic was on the south side of Atlanta.....ugh!! :P

On the way home, Danita discovered she had a tick in her hair!! :P Karissa soaked it with an alcohol pad and then using a tweezers, she got it out! I call her the super tick remover!! I'm glad she didn't mind the job, even if it did freak her out a bit! ;)

We dropped Danita off in Montezuma, GA, then Karissa in Albany, GA. Dwayne met us in Camilla, GA to pick up Chris and Cody, then the kids and I finished the 2 hour trip home to Blountstown!! We got home around 10:30 PM......so many miles, but praise God they were all safe ones!!

 We had to add air to the one tire on the way home, but other than that, no vehicle troubles! :)