Thanks giving 2009

We had a good laugh on the way home from our Thanksgiving. These wild

turkeys were crossing the highway on Friday morning. No worries.

xoxoxo

The three candied apples.

Quinn, Parker, and Melanie

Quinn fixing the three wheeler. Parker looking on.

He actually had a wrench and thought he was doing something big.

Quinn. No training wheels.

Melanie. A side note story: Melanie's family stayed with us in

Pinetop. We all went to church this morning. She went to the CTR 5

class. After class the teachers were asking the children who

their grandparents were so they could help them find their

families. When they asked Melanie she told them that her

grandmother was "Grandma Pinetop". We laughed about that.

I am the grandma in Pinetop.

Lee and Aaron

Laine pushing a car around. She will do this all day.

This is the fried Thanksgiving turkey. This is the chef who

fried the Thanksgiving turkey. This is the pleased wife of

the chef who fried the Thanksgiving turkey. This is the sister

in law, Connie, who got in the picture of the wife, the chef and the

Thanksgiving turkey.

Beautiful Thanksgiving table.

Winner and baby in new Mutsy baby buggy.

By the way ~ this winner is very grateful for all your votes.

Grandpa and girls.

Megan, Melanie and Paisley

Proud Dad and son.

Tim and Mikey

Studying Black Friday flyers.

Heidi, Pete, Brittany

Princess Abbie

Playing video games.
~

The talks in church today were about gratitude. I loved them both. The thought that has stuck with me is that gratitude is an ability to LOOK and SEE things differently. And that EVERYTHING happens because of gratitude. Gratitude is a VIRTUE. Not an emotion. As in all virtues you have to work to receive the gift.

~

For me there are times that my heart is so full. When we gather as family it is all I can do not to bust with happiness and thankfulness that I, of all people, have been blessed with this family. I am grateful that it is their desire to get together. I am grateful as I watch the grandchildren just play and play and play. I love seeing my children and their spouses interact with each other and be comfortable together.

~

When we separate and I think about everyone ...child and grandchild...I am overwhelmed with love for them. I want them to be happy. I want them to prosper. I want them to be close to the Lord. I want to be with them forever. God bless them....every day...all day long.

3944 MILE ROAD TRIP

My husband and I drove to Wisconsin last week for our youngest daughter, Lee's

National Volleyball tournament. This was her second year at Glendale Community College, Glendale, AZ. They missed a trip to Nationals last year in the divisional championship game. This year they won! We decided to drive across country. We got grief from our children but in the end loaded up our Vibe and took off. It was a relaxing 56 total hour drive. It really was. We love seeing the country. And finding Lee and her team at our destination was such an added plus. I am a lousy photographer and take random pictures. I wish my pictures really showed how pretty these farms are.


These are corn fields waiting for harvest. They would already to done but it has been too
wet for the corn to dry out. They leave it on the stock until it dries and the ears fall over. Then it is harvested. There were miles and miles of these fields.

Chula Vista Resort. (This picture doesn't begin to show the size of this place.)

CHULA VISTA ACTIVITY CENTER

The Activity Center in the middle of a corn field. (Left hand corner: parking permits. $5 a day.)

Seeing this sign was so exciting.

We entered into a brick building. The "dome" was attached to that building. You can see the doors to the facility behind Lee. (below) They had emergency exits on the exterior walls inside
the center. There were signs on the doors saying to hurry and shut them as the building
was pressurized. I guess if the air escaped it would collapse.

I wondered how Lee's team would do. We had seen one of the teams in a tournament in Scottsdale earlier in the season and they were good. We had played them well then but lost in 4. Our first game was with DMACC (Des Moines Area Community College). They looked tough. We lost in 5 by 2 points in the last set. Although we lost I was CONVINCED that GCC could play this level of volleyball. Loosing the lst game takes you out of the winner's bracket. Best we could hope for was 9th. They won their next two and played for 9th and lost that in 5, again.

I am pleased that Lee was able to play on a team that went to Nationals. What an experience. You will see below a picture of her crying when it was over.

I know there is a list of things that caused them. Volleyball has been her friend and her

master. Her knees hurt. She's married. She needs to get her schooling done. But she loves the game. She loves these girls. But it is over now. Letting go is easy and hard.
~
LEE JUST INSIDE THE BUILDING.

American Flag inside.It was exciting every time a game started.

Lee laughing with friends Tanner and McKayla before game starts.

Last time together for National Anthem.

Lee waiting to start. (sorry I take bad pictures)

Last introduction.

After Lee's last game. No matter what it is hard to say goodbye.

Lee, David and me.

APPLETON, WISCONSIN

David served part of his mission in Appleton. I really wanted to go there and see one of the places that I sent letters to him. Appleton is about a 2+ hour drive from The Dells. We left after Lee's first game and got there just about sundown. (We realized that day that the sun goes down about 4:00 pm in Wisconsin.) David was there 35 years ago and was shocked to see how huge the city has grown. We did find the main street (below) and I just took a picture of this building because it was easy for me to take.

WISCONSIN DELLS, WISCONSIN

Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin. This is the town that the tournament was played. It was pretty quiet the days we were there but you can tell it gets busy. It is all about water. The Wisconsin river is narrow through this part. Not Arizona narrow...Wisconsin narrow. You can take river tours. (we didn't but you couldn't miss advertisements on the TV...would love to have done it)See? This is Wisconsin narrow!

Downtown. It is an old town. The shops are filled with attractions.

Ripley's Believe it or Not. Not my kind of place.

LAKE DENTON, WISCONSIN

Lake Denton, Wisconsin. This was a town close to Wis. Dells. We only found it when we went to a movie. (Blindside....go see it) We realized from that little drive that this area is a huge draw in the summer. There are theme parks, water slides, and roller coasters everywhere. They are huge. But it is not only a summer place. There are indoor water parks and theme parks. Just amazing.

HEADED HOME

Getting ready to cross the Mississippi River. The bridge was too high to take a picture of the river. Which was OK because I close my eyes. Big water scares me....hurry, David, and get to the other side.

The heartland: flat as the eye can see.

Toll Roads. We only traveled over one toll road. $2.50 for about 40 miles. Kansas

We drove through Pete and Brittany's old stomping grounds.

Hello, Des Moines, Iowa!

David took this picture of me somewhere in Kansas. Yes, I was making a potty stop.

I only want to post this to warn you that there are alot of miles between places

and even fewer hiding places to go. I was about to die when we

finally saw this little dry creek bed off the road.

WARNING: Not for everyone.

Well, he or she is kinda cute....but dead. I'm a good hunter!

But I don't want to pick it up.

She Ain't What She Used To Be.

My cat, Scout, will be 10 years old the middle of November.

And she is starting to show her age.

The other night I found cat

barf between the wall and bed in Lee's old room.

Cat nuggets sliding down the wall.

I don't remember her ever throwing up before.

But another tale tale sign is.....mouse turds! I first saw them

tonight. Scout is letting mice move in! We haven't had a mouse

in our house for years. (That is what cats are for!)

Makes me sick! David Says they are coming in where the dishwasher hoses are.
There is hardly any room but evidently they can squeeze
through small openings. There was a dried apple peel

stuck in the white hose opening.

The mouse could squeeze through but not the spoils.

So I cleared out the mouse turds, went to the dollar
store and bought mouse traps.

I will let you know.

And....prayer for Scout.