Happy 48th Birthday, Bob!!!

Happy Birthday, Bob!

I met my husband, Bob, when he was 23. So much has happened since. Ups, downs, good, bad, but mostly I have seen tremendous growth. "He's still workin' on me" comes to mind. How true. I hope He is still working on me as well. So enjoy your day, Barter Bob, Lasagna Bob, Pesto Bob, whoever you are :)

Happy 16th Birthday Zach!

16! WOW! As you have heard me say before, "He's come a long way!" From just sitting on the floor, or couch, not wanting any contact with another human being, (not even me) to talking to and greeting all his church family every chance he gets! What a blessing Zach is to us. He is so excited for today. He woke to his Dad making him his favorite drink, and orange banana smoothie. And he heard "Happy Birthday" played on the piano as well. We are going to Red Robin for his birthday dinner tonight. He has a coupon for a free dinner there!
I want to thank all of Zach's friends and family for being such a huge encouragement to him, and to us. It means alot. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

A Pleasant Surprise

Mike lost his wallet Monday. We've backtracked, searched the house, the car, parking lots . . . nothing. So after getting over the initial shock of "My wallet is gone!", we had to get the license replaced. Mind you, he hasn't had his license for one month yet. Back to the DMV. Not somewhere we had planned to return to so quickly. But this time the pressure is off. No testing, just go get the license reissued. We went on Wednesday. Since they were closed on Tuesday for Veteran's Day, the lines were longer than usual, and Zach was making it known that he didn't want to be there. But God is good. We got in line, and an employee notices Mike on his crutches. So she says "Here, take this ticket, and go to the front of the line. Your number will be called VERY soon." It was! Apparently there is a priority system in place for senior citizens, and the disabled. And on Wednesday, Mike qualified. It took a total of 10 minutes to get through all the lines and have his license reissued.

Replacing the wallet and the license was easy. The money is probably gone for good. I'm sure he won't be carrying all his money in his wallet from now on. Lesson learned. As for the "points cards" from various stores Mike goes to, well they're gone with the cash.

This is the second time Mike has lost his wallet. I'm thinking of one of those wallet chains. Tacky? Maybe. But for him, practical.

Friends, Food & Fun!

Last night the Slone family came over for dinner. We had a really nice night. There was alot of food (of course!), and alot of fun. The kids did a great job keeping themselves entertained with ping pong and foosball. This allowed the adults to enjoy some fellowship as well.

I loved having the Slone family over. They are very easygoing, and I like that in a guest. I especially liked when they arrived with a yummy caramel apple pie for dessert. What a treat!Thanks again for sharing an evening with us.

Waited on Hand and Foot

Mike is doing well. His surgery was yesterday afternoon, and it went as planned. Thank you for all your prayers. The doctor removed several plantar warts and he was amazed at the depth of them . Mike was to the point that is was incredibly painful to walk. So now he is bearing with the pain of healing and the awkwardness of using crutches to get around. The teen choir is singing Sunday and he is determined to be up there with them, crutches and all. He is also looking forward to the upcoming Men's retreat at Camp Joy. I wonder where he gets all this energy, heredity maybe?

I just want to add the funny things you say when the anesthesia is wearing off! He says he doesn't remember saying a thing. " How could I make some of this stuff up?" I said. I promised I wouldn't tell everything he said, but he did tell me of a friend he has that makes lemon meringue pie from scratch! :)

What A Week!

Wow! What a week! Bob & Mike returned home safely from Florida. Mike is very excited, to say the least, about his new car. Then on Tuesday he went to take his driving test to get his license. He passed! So now he is able to drive himself to school, church activities, and do other little odds and ends for us. What a blessing this is.

On Wednesday I had the privilege to go to The Christian Womanhood Spectacular, held at First Baptist of Hammond. It was entitled, "Living on the Edge". Sounded perfect for me, and believe me it was. There were nine ladies from our church who attended. I believe each and every one of us benefited from attending. Debbie, Kris and I stayed in a hotel to avoid the commuting each day from home. Once again this was a blessing to be able to do this. It was the icing on the cake!

Then on Saturday we had a booth at Trade expo. We had our equipment there, but we also had some added extras that were a great success. We brought ALOT of our homemade goodies. We had lasagna, poppers, pesto, broccoli cheese soup, meatloaf, and our various degrees of salsa. We topped it all of by offering delicious BLT sandwiches (tomatoes & lettuce were from the garden, of course) made with pesto on them, instead of mayo. The crowd loved them. A big thanks to Kris for helping us out! And of course to Sam, who is now Zach's new buddy!

On Sunday we enjoyed Sunday School, and teaching in Children's church, and then a very useful message from Pastor Dave in the evening. Unfortunately, Bob was home sick today. He has bronchitis, and is on a couple of medications. He had to hear of our great day at church second hand. Things just aren't the same when you can't go to church. Bob seems to be getting better today.

Can't hardly wait for this week!

Cleaning House

Cleaning the house, and garage, and basement, and bedrooms, and kitchen. No area in my home was safe from weeding through the junk, and the necessities. I love having garage sales. It's a lot of work. Some say just have the truck come by and pick up your junk and take the tax deduction. But where's the fun in that? I love the bargaining, and haggling over pricing. Who doensn't love to make a deal? Plus on Satuday we had a table of free ladies clothing left over from the clothing swap at church the night before. So we were able to bless some people who needed it!

Now doesn't that look like fun? It was. Thanks to the Todd's who are a huge help, and alot of fun too!