Our Family Portrait

Luke and I decided to take a picture with ALL 5 dogs today outside. Madison hasn't officially met everyone and we weren't going to start today. So, we were very careful and had a blast! They were really good which surprised me. Stormy almost never stopped barking...not out of the norm for her. The top photo here will probably be in our Christmas cards...who knows! I love animals better than I do most people. I was reading Noahs Ark to a little boy in preschool the other day, and it hit me. God also cares for animals...if he didn't, he wouldn't have saved the animals on the Ark. God entrusted Luke and I with these animals. So, I guess we are todays "modern-smaller version" of Noah. And, by the way...we weren't going to even try to get the cats and guinea pig in this picture!

Our Family

Luke had to fix the faucets in our bathroom last night so I busied myself taking pictures of my plants and our animals. The outside dogs were already put up for the night so I had a time trying to get some decent pictures of them. I think they turned out ok though!

Neosho Garage Sale

This weekend was rather interesting where the weather was concerned. The city-wide Neosho, MO garage sale was this past Saturday. It snowed, rained, sleeted, and hailed. Needless to say the inside garage sales did great! Aunt JJ took us around town and then we settled on the square (my favorite part of Neosho!!!). Mom, Aunt JJ, Dad, and I shopped through all the flea market stores. We found some interesting buys and some that were not to interesting. Ma was in the hospital on Saturday and Sunday so we stopped by there some too! Friday night, we had a party for Aunt Viv's birthday. I had a blast listening to Kyle and Alyceson talking about their school. Neosho High School really makes my Southwest Christian Academy seem lame! They had a Senior Hall, a Freshman Hall, and even a Sophomore Hall....man, we only had 1 hall in the whole school! Kyle and Alyceson were also talking about the "Giddy-ups" (which are the cowboy population of Neosho High) and my favorite...the "Emo's...but if you wanted to make them mad...call them the Emu's! (the emotional people of Neosho high...I'm still trying to grasp exactly what they are...but something about boys wearing girls jeans...at SCA we called these people something TOTALLY different!!!

We always have a blast going to Neosho. I would love to move their someday, but we would leave our friends behind, our church, and even Dr. Mike...and I just cannot do that!!! Enjoy the pictures!

Why our neighbors shouldn't feed the squirrels

Yesterday was a very stressful day for me. I called Luke about 2 o'clock crying my eyes out. The neighbors have decided to feed the squirrels from 2 feeders on these big poles. So, the squirrels for several days now have been running down our privacy fence to get to them. Well yesterday Samson caught one. I got out there in time to get him away from it, but the poor little fella died in my hands. I was so upset...not so much at Samson, I mean he is a dog, but at the neighbors for feeding them. I'm over it now, and the bird feeders are empty as of this morning. I haven't even seen a squirrel around.

I was really tempted to take it to Dr. Mike...now don't laugh, as Mom and I have done this kinda thing before. At least the little squirrel is in heaven now eating out of God's bird feeders.

So I guess the moral of the story is, Don't feed the squirrels around a privacy fence. My mom feeds them off of her deck, but that's fine b/c her house is WAY off the ground with no dogs around. Oh well, maybe I'm just being cranky!

American Idol

Ok, so I'm usually not one to complain about a dumb TV show, but my GOODNESS!!!! Will Sanjaya never go home??? I am totally fine with Haley being voted off because I did think she dressed a little trashy....but I can't stand Sanjaya at all. Luke and I have a nickname for him which I will not put on my blog...it's funny...but I heard it on the radio! I'm sure you can guess. Anyways. I just hate it that he's still on. I'm voting probably for Blake, Chris, Melinda, or Lakisha. My gosh, Chris, really does look like my brother...it's very strange.

Well goodnight blog world, I feel better after venting!!!

Bye Bye!

Easter

Luke and I went to church early yesterday in order for him to get his projection slides down pat. I don't mind getting up and getting their early...you get to hear the orchestra rehearse and I even read a book sometimes. After a wonderful church service...can I just say our choir is truly the best??? we went to Ruby Tuesday with Mom and Dad. Then, we headed over to Luke's grandparents house for yet another meal (and yes, I ate there too I'm a PIG). We ran home to change and head back up to the church. Dad and Luke replaced lights and re-aimed them. Things like this always remind me of the Kingdom. I'm sad we didn't do it this year, and it even felt funny to have Easter come around and not be totally exhausted. Oh well! We are getting to do it in '08 and I can't wait! I want to do some new scenes, songs, and sets! All in all, Luke and I had a very busy Easter. The choir sounded great again last night. Mark Darr (or is it Walter....LONG story... one which I am about to share....During the Kingdom about 2 years ago I was sitting in my usual place getting ready to call cues, Walter (the guy who plays Jesus) was on the cross. It was an emotional time behind the set. Mark comes up to me and says, "Well, you know I look like that with my shirt off too...if you like that sort of thing." I about fell out laughing. So of course, I got on the headset and told Mom which told Dad, which went to Jim Erwin. So now, we get Walter and Mark confused...and to the people who have NO clue who these 2 are...they couldn't look alike if they tried!!! Mark Darr is hilarious and a blast to work with.

The Kingdom is a lot of work, but a great way to make new friends. I encourage all the Sunday School people who read this to get involved when we start having meetings. If you think you don't have enough time, you will be amazed at what the Lord can do with your schedule. It's a way to make wonderful friends and to do something to serve the Lord. I'm not one to get in someone's face and ask if they are saved, but by doing the Kingdom it's a ministry to a bunch of people. Besides, the people who are working on it now (my parents, Alicens parents, the Barkers, Erwins...etc. are all getting older and they would LOVE to have younger ones to do some of the grunt work I'm sure!!!!) I have been involved in productions since before I was born!!! They are truly a "family affair" as Russ would say!

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!!!

Time with some CRAZY friends

Luke and I decided to have Nick and Joe come over to help eat some of the things I had for Ladies Class meeting. Joe and I have known each other for years and are truly best friends. Nick graduated a class ahead of us and was Luke's best man. He always housesits for us when we are away...and I honestly can't tell if he's ever been here!!! We had Luke grill us some burgers and we also had cheese dip and chips, deviled eggs, pecan dream bars, taquitos, egg rolls, and even some quiches!!! Boy were we pigs! Afterwards, Nick and Luke and I went to the Rave to see "Blades of Glory." Will Ferrell cracks me up everytime. This time his character was "Chas Michael Michaels." what kind of name is that!!!

Chatterbox Kit Completed!

This was the Chatterbox Album Kit I got at our Crop. I decided to go ahead and complete the book out with pictures and everything. I have never really been one to make these small albums, but I love this one. Hope you enjoy!

1 Down 2 to go!

So this is from our Crop this weekend. It's a really cute idea, but I'm not sure I love the papers. Anyway...it helped me to learn how to make flowers from scraps to go on my pages! Hope you enjoy. My goal today (after housework) is to finish up the other 2 kits!

A Wonderful Scrapbooking Weekend

My friend Margaret and I went to Camp Mitchell this weekend to a wonderful Crop. We had a great time! Margaret is such a hoot to be around and a great inspiration to me. The view from Camp Mitchell was unbelieveable. I was able to get some great pictures. It was amazing to be scrapping and look out the window to see Hawks just soaring in the air. Our rooms were a little less to be desired...almost like camping...and I'm not one to camp...but other than that it was truly a blast! I'm not sure how many pages I got done, but I will post them later!