Happy New Year - 2009!

From all of us

to all of you...

Happy New Year!!

May God bless you!

Merry Christmas 2008

From our house

to your house....

We wish you a very

Merry Christmas

and a

blessed New Year!

Just a little snow!

We were blessed with a beautiful snow storm today!

Probably about a foot of snow.


This was not a fun walk out to the mailbox!
Looking at it is great - driving not so much -
but especially not fun walking in it!
Good cardio workout though - so
I shouldn't complain!

A look up Jewell Road to the north.

This is one of the evergreens back by

the pond - love the look of the snow

weighing them down!

A Visit with Santa & Mrs. Claus

We were so blessed to have

Santa and Mrs. Claus stop

by and visit with us tonight.

Here are Megan, Karsten & Sydney

doing a group sit with Santa.

They had already sat with Santa

and told him something they would

like to receive on Christmas morning.

Santa read the kiddies a story too -

it was about the First Christmas.

They heard the story of Jesus' birth

and were told that Santa is not

the reason for Christmas.

Not that they understood yet -

but they will!

This is Dave, Kim & Karsten with Santa & Mrs. Claus.

Michelle, Mark, Kaitlyn & Sydney with

Santa & Mrs. Claus.



Rich, Kari, Megan & Charlotte
enjoy sitting with Santa & Mrs. Claus too.

The kids were excited to see Santa -
and even gave him some carrots to feed
Rudolph and the other reindeers.
Santa & Mrs. Claus led us in a song -
Santa Claus is coming to town.
Later they led us in a round of
Happy Birthday to Kaitlyn too.

Santa brought each of them some pj's and
a little toy. These little ones are so
blessed!!

Happy Birthday Kaitlyn - Dec. 2

Happy 1st Birthday to Kaitlyn!


What a cutie she is!

Here is Kaitlyn posing with

big sister Sydney.

Cannot believe a year has passed

since Kaitlyn was born!

Kaitlyn just spent her first night away

from mommy and daddy this past weekend.

What a trooper she was - woke about 1 a.m.

and grandpa went to rescue her. She was

looking at him like what are you doing with me??

When she saw grandma she jumped for me!

After a few minutes she was ready to go back

to bed. Good thing - grandma needs

her beauty sleep! ;-)

We are all looking forward to the

family gathering in honor of Kaitlyn's

big day - and won't she be surprised

when Santa and Mrs. Claus join in her party!

Happy Thanksgiving!

What a great Thanksgiving this has been!

We enjoyed a wonderful dinner

with all our kids and grandkids.

We are so very blessed!

As Thanksgiving Day draws to a close

I'd like to remind everyone to try make

a difference in someone's life.

There are so many people hurting

today - physically, emotionally,

spiritually, financially - the

list goes on and on.

We have an opportunity at our church

to assist folks in our area in providing

their kids with a few Christmas gifts.

As I attend gymnastics with our

granddaughters Megan & Sydney I

see a list there of families they are

trying to assist - heartbreaking stories!

Maybe you can do a little to help

someone out! If you want to

help someone and don't know of

anyone - please give me a shout and

I will try to direct you - we do know

some single mom's and also some

single dad's who could use a helping

hand. And of course the Tree in

our church for helping with some

local families too.

We thank God for our many blessings,

and we hope that our attemps to bless

others is pleasing in His sight!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

39 Years!

Russ and I were married

39 years ago today!

Wow, I really am

amazed at how fast those years

have gone by!

Yes, we were "babies" when

we got married - just

18 and 20 years old!

I asked him recently if he

wanted to do a cruise for

our 40th anniversary

(I figure why wait for 50 -

my folks did and then mom

passed away just 4 months too early).

He said no. Not in the greatest

mood that day I guess because

who in their right mind would

say no to a cruise!! ;-)

I told him then that the celebration

planning was now in his court.

Ha ha - we will see what happens

next year!

He has been as special to me

as I have been to him -

God Blessed us both and

we are grateful!

Ho Ho Ho!!!

Ho, Ho, Ho!

You know Who is coming soon!

We are quite excited that both

Santa and his wife will be

coming to visit with the

grandkids early next month!

Hope they enjoy this visit as

much as their parents did

when they were kiddies!

Baby, it is getting cold....

Fall is here - that is acceptable news

Winter is coming - brrr...I am not ready!

Got a call today from friends in the UP of

Michigan. They were expecting a half

a foot of snow today with more tonight

and more tomorrow. Yuk! Just

not ready for those thoughts!

Went to dinner this evening with

friends Laura and Gaylon.

Afterwards we went back to their

house to continue our chatfest.

Laura has been off on medical

leave and is back now working

parttime. While off she took up

her old hobby of knitting and crocheting.

How cool - she made a scarf for me!

No one has ever made me a scarf!!

I love it and look forward to wearing it!

Another old friend was in town this

past week - Jill. I didn't get to see her

though. She was in town for the funeral

of her former mother-in-law.

Will have to catch up with you next

time Jill!

We will be going to the Pistons game

Sunday evening. Maybe we will

get some pictures of Hooper! ;-)

Sure won't be getting any of Sydney's

favorite player - Chauncie Billups!

She calls all of the players Chauncie!

Maybe she will start calling them

all Iverson now. lol

Halloween 2008

Thought you would enjoy

seeing our 5 little goblins!

This is our good witch Megan.

This is our Minnie Mouse Sydney.

This is Karsten the scary bat.

Kaitlyn is dressed as a little kitty cat.

And little Charlotte wonders what

all this is about! She has on her

1st Halloween suit.

The kiddies all went to see Grandpa

at work - they had to see if he had any

special treats for them! And

of course he did - thanks to Grandma!

This evening they all enjoyed a little

trick or treating fun - and

it was the best weather I can remember

for Halloween! As the evening began it

was about 70 degrees here!

It is Time To Vote!

I have agonized over posting

this - and then decided

if it can be in my yard

then it can be on my blog!

The Law of the Garbage Truck

A little analogy for you...

One day I hopped in a taxi and we took off for the airport.

We were driving in the right lane when suddenly a black car jumped

out of a parking space right in front of us.

My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, skidded and

just missed the other car by inches!

The driver of the other car whipped his head

around and started yelling at us. My taxi

driver just smiled and waved at the guy.

And I mean, he was really friendly!

So I asked, "Why did you just do that?

That guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!"

Then is when my taxi driver taught

me what I now call

"The law of the Garbage Truck".

He explained that many people are like

garbage trucks - they run around full of garbage,

full of frustration, full of anger,

and full of disappointments. As their

garbage piles up, they need a place

to dump it and sometimes they'll

dump it on you.

Don't take it personally. Just smile, wave and

wish them well and move on. Don't take

their garbage and spread it to

other people at work, at home, or on

the streets. The bottom line is

that successful people do not

let garbage trucks take over their day!

Life is too short to wake up in the

morning with regrets, so

"Love and pray for the people

who treat you right and

love and pray for the ones who don't."

Life is 10% what you make it

and 90% how you take it!

What a great philosophy!

Addition to original post:

Check out the comment section -

Please read the comment from Chris -

had no idea of this web site or that

it is actually a true story! I had received

the story on an email and thought I would

share. Glad she commented - the site

she talks about is great!

Another of the comments is from my

sister - who works for a

different garbage company than the

one pictured! If she sends me

a picture then I will post hers! ;-)

Utica H.S. Homecoming Parade

Friday, October 17 was

the Homecoming Parade for

Utica High School.

For many years, Jeremy Norris has

been part of our family.

Now he is attending high school and in

the marching band!

We thought we should go see

him play and march!

Jeremy is the nice tall guy in the row in

front of the cymbals. If you

look at the front door of the house

he is just to the left and has the

saxophone in his hand.

I remember when he was 6 weeks old

and we began babysitting after

Wanda returned to work!

He was so tiny - and now so tall!

Michelle holds Kaitlyn's hands while

the loud fire/police cars begin the parade.


Sydney was excited to go to a parade!
You rarely see Sydney outside without her
sunglasses on! Miss Hollywood!
Karsten was thrilled to see all
the bands playing and the Army
truck too!
Michelle, Laura, Wanda and Karla



L Laura, Gaylon, Wanda (and Tommy who
was still at work) and Russ & I
have been friends for many years. We all met in
our days at Dequindre Road Baptist Church.


Sydney and Karsten enjoyed going
to the parade and getting so much candy!!
And a flag to wave from a soldier and
new sunglasses too!

We all had a great time - and it was
a pleasure to see Jeremy all grown up!

What a Pain!!!

We are being audited by the

IRS for the profit sharing program

we provide for our employees.

Grrrrrrrr!!!!

Have several calls into the IRS - do

you think they can respond??

NO!!

I have told them repeatedly that I am

not available for tomorrow and give

options for another date -

but no response. Guess the auditor

will get a surprise if she shows up!

I have spent the morning printing -

more than 300 pages so far -

the documents that they are requesting.

We know that all is fine with this -

we just give the wage detail and how much

we have decided to invest for the employees

to another company to do the final

reports and investing.

Just a big pain!

Recipe Exchange

I have had several requestes recently

to do "Recipe Exchanges". I have

not taken part in them - hate to put my

other friends emails out there in

web-land where they could be hit

with too many virus'!

So, thought I would stop sounding like

a big party-pooper and list a

recipe here instead!

This is a recipe given to me by Karen, my stepmother.

She knows I am a big chocoholic and

served this to Russ and I when we were in FL last

February. Immediately we began deciding

it needed a little more chocolate - so this

recipe is hers with a little more chocolate!

Chocolate Cream Desert

1 1/2 sticks cold butter

1 pkg. Chocolate cake mix

1 egg, slightly beaten

1 8 oz. pkg cream cheese softened

1 cup confectioners sugar

4 cups whipped topping divided

4 1/2 cups cold milk

3 pkgs chocolate pudding mix - INSTANT

2 tbs. chocolate curls - optional (or grated for ease!)

In a large bowl, cut the butter into the

cake mix until the mixture resembles coarse

crumbs. Add the egg and mix well.

Press into a greased 13x9x2 baking dish and bake

at 350 degrees 15 to 18 minutes, or until set.

Cool completely in the dish on a wire rack.

In a small mixing bowl, beat cream cheese on medium

speed until fluffy. Add confectioners sugar and beat

until smooth. Fold in about a cup of whipped topping.

Carefully spread over the cooked cake mix crust.

Cover and refrigerate until set.

In a large bowl, combine the milk and pudding mixes

by whisking with a wire whisk for 2 minutes.

Let stand for 5 minutes or until slightly thickened.

Spread over the cream cheese layer. Top

with remaining whipped topping.

Garnish with chocolate curls or grated chocolate.

Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before cutting.

Not a hard recipe - just a little time consuming since

you have to wait between each step.

Very rich - and yummy!!

Run and do!

The last weekend in September Russ and I took

off for the U.P. to meet up with 3 other couples.

As we traveled we got a call from Michelle and Mark.

They were enroute to Houghton Lake to get

their new boat settled into the cottage.

They hired a retired man with a big trailer

to come from Houghton Lake to Port Huron

to transport the boat. We ran into them at

a Wendy's along I-69.

This is their new boat.

After a quick bite to eat we continued on to the U.P.

When we got into Mackinaw City the temperature

dropped from 82 to 52 and the fog was

so thick you couldn't see past 20 feet in front

of you. We missed the beautiful scenery of going

over the bridge - but when we returned it was beautiful and sunny!

This picture was taken by the Tahquanemonon Falls.
We had hiked about a mile and then climbed up and down
tons of steep stairs - and surprise of all, I could
still breathe!! haha



One of the partners of each of the couples that
we met went to elementary school with Russ.
This is Russ, Pam and Leonard.
Melodye didn't make it down the last set of stairs.

We had a great time visiting and seeing beautiful

scenery. On the way back to the bridge a very

pretty Michigan State trooper decided to stop

and talk to Russ. She was so nice to give him

a warning to slow down - and not to give

us a hard time since we didn't have a current

registration! He made the comment later that

it was a good thing we were in a mini-van and not

in the Spitfire. We would have probably been given

a ticket for that one! lol By the way - no he

was not going that fast!

We visited the Petoskey area on the way home. The most

beautiful colors of the trip were between the

bridge and Petoskey. Love that area!

Always good to go - and always good to get home too!

Bats in the belfry? Naw, it is just squirrels!

Craziness abounds!!

Kim and Dave have found that they

have some unwanted guests in the

eaves and attic of their house -

a group of lovely squirrels!

The pack seems to have just moved

in but are already wreaking havoc!

An exterminator was called -

who hung live traps. The first

day he caught 3.

Since then Dave has emptied

some of the traps himself. This weekend

Dave went out and purchased some

traps of his own to actually put

into the attic - Kim does not enjoy the

sound of pitter-pattering feet

over the kitchen sink!

Last week Kim found one of the squirrels

sitting on top of the cage. When he

saw her he stood up and walked into

(or squeezed into) the eave of the house.

Tonight when she got home from work the

cute little darling had moved from the south

end of the house to the north end.

Again he looked at her and walked into his

new abode - poked his head out

and seemed to chipper at her -

"Hello, now this is my house too!"

I wonder if throwing some nice smelly

moth balls into the attic would help them

decide to move on to their next

destination???

Kaitlyn and the pumpkin

Michelle and Mark took

Sydney and Kaitlyn to

Blake's Orchard yesterday to

have cider and look at all the pumpkins.

This was Kaitlyn's first time to experience

the joys of fall at the orchard.

She did not have a joyful time however!

They had brought a blanket to put over

the straw - just in case anyone was

allergic to that!

However it seems a hard hat would have

been the thing to bring!

While the 2 girls sat on the blanket with

all the pumpkins stacked behind them -

a great photo opportunity! -

one of the pumpkins fell from

several feet up and landed on Kaitlyn's head!

Ouch!

This meant a trip to the ER - those are pretty

nice sized pumpkins and her head is

not so big!

After an exam and a CT scan it was

concluded that she didn't have

any bleeds in the brain!

However, her head does seem

to be swollen - and I am sure

she has a headache! And I just

think about her poor spine as it

had to compress with the impact!

That poor baby!

We appreciate all your prayers for

Kaitlyn that she not have any

effects from this unfortunate

accident!

Fall may not be her favorite time of the year!

Baptism for Megan & Charlotte

Rich and Kari had

Megan and Charlotte baptised

today into the Catholic Church.

The service was at St. Mary's Church in

St. Clair and a luncheon

was held right afterwards at

the St. Clair Inn.

Charlotte (8 weeks) was the youngest of all the

children being baptised today and

Megan (3 years) was the oldest.

We wish for Megan and Charlotte,

as well as for Sydney, Karsten

and Kaitlyn, that they all be

raised to know the wonderful

love of our Blessed Redeemer -

hmmm sounds like a song

doesn't it?? ;-)

The Lord's Day - Sunday

Oh Lord, I have prepared

my house for you.

Please come into my heart

so I may spend my day

and the rest of my life

with You.

Amen.

Cooking Day!

Help me My Savior,

to brew a big kettle of

brotherly love, and

serve it with the clean

sweet bread of human kindness.

Shopping Day!

Oh God,

Give me the wisdom to shop

wisely, so I may

purchase eternal

happiness for myself and

all others, in

need of love.

Cleaning Day!

Lord Jesus,

Help me to dust out

all the many faults I

have been hiding in the

secret corners of my heart.

Mending Day!

Oh God,
Help me mend my ways
so I will not set a
bad example for others!

Ironing Day!

Dear Lord,

Help me iron out all the wrinkles

of prejudice I have collected

through the years so I

may see the beauty in others.

Wash Day!

We have a lot of work to do this week!

Today is Monday - Wash Day!

Lord, help me wash away all my selfishness

and vanity, so I may

serve You with perfect humility

all week.

Amen!

Join me this week as I try
to be the person Jesus wants me to be!

Ear tubes for Kaitlyn!

Kaitlyn - 9 months -

is following in Sydney's footsteps!

Kaitlyn will get ear tubes tomorrow

Friday, September 12.

What a cutie this little one is!

Rolls all over to get what she wants!




We sure pray that the surgery
goes well and the tubes do the
trick for her! She has had several
ear infections - even during the summer
months. Poor Baby!
Usually you will see big smiles on her anyway!

We always ask that you try to make

a difference in someone's life -

and this little one has sure made a

difference in ours!

PS - Does everyone out there in

blog-land know that you can click on

the pictures to make them larger??

Happy Birthday Sydney!

9/11/2001

What a terrible tragedy for out country!

We should NEVER forget that day!

Fast forward to

September 11, 2005...

What a wonderful day for our family!

Sydney was born!

We always say her birthday is September 11

and not 9/11 - we want

to never forget the bad but we also

want to celebrate the good!

Hard to believe Sydney is already 3!

She is a smart little cookie

and very adept with a camera -

trying to follow in her Mommy's footsteps!

Sydney loves to pose for the camera too!

Sydney and Kaitlyn (9 months) visited
KiddieKandids for their pictures.
Kaitlyn loves her big sister!
What little cuties they are!



Sydney enjoyed her birthday today -
and will enjoy her "Princess" themed party
on Sunday afternoon too!
Today she received a couple of presents
and lots of phone calls from aunts and uncles!
I had Sydney, Karsten & Kaitlyn today and
Kim sent cupcakes which they had
with their lunch. Then they
had yummy brownies that Michelle sent
for afternoon snack.
All these little goodies are prepared so
carefully and with so much love - Sydney
and Karsten are allergic to milk, dairy, eggs
and a few other things.
After dinner tonight though - Sydney began
welting on her face - the first
sign of an allergic reaction. That means
there was probably a cross-contemination
of something somewhere in the initial
processing of one of the ingredients.
Thankfully it was a welting and not a full
blown anaphylaxtic episode!

We are so honored to be grandparents to
5 of the most darling kiddies!!
No boasting from this grandma!! ;-)

Happy Birthday Andi!

Happy Happy Birthday!

May this be a great year for you!

Hugs to you!

Russ and his Spitfire

In the early 80's Russ bought a little

Triumph Spitfire.

Lots of fun - but you know the

English cars - drive a little and work on them

a little more.

The last time we licensed this car was about 1984 we think.

It was stored here in our garage for

many years - it was a great place to

hide Christmas gifts since it was always

undercover for protection from dust.

After we bought the property where

Contractors Connection is located now,

we moved the Spitfire there.

In the years since,

many other things

have found their way into what we

always called "the Spitfire room".

Since we decided to get the car out

and actually have some fun with it -

we had a lot of digging to do!

Here is is - already uncovered -
and wow is it dusty!!
My friend Jill, shows beautiful parts
of her home on her blog - and here
I am showing -
yikes, dust and lots of it!
But, in my defense, this is not my home! ;-)


After a good wash (ok a little rinse)
and checking on the brakes and clutch
along with replacing the battery and tires,
here Russ is, hitting the roads at last!


We drove around for awhile and then
found granddaughter Sydney at home.
We thought she might enjoy a little ride around
the block. She told her mommy that
she wanted a Barbie car too!
Grandpa said please don't call
my car a Barbie car!

We will have to take Karsten and Megan for a
little spin around the block too.

Can you imagine - Russ and I actually

had all 4 of our kids in this car with us at

one time! Before all the booster

seat laws for sure!

It is hard on my back for me to ride

the motorcycle with him

so we thought this might be a little easier.

Well it is a LITTLE easier - but

I think that a nice Camero, or Mustang

or even a Vette convertible would be

a LOT more comfortable!! ;-)