Our dumb dishwasher...

Well, I can't call it dumb. It was worked great now for about 4 years and has been with the house for about 12 now. It rocks compared to Mom's brand new one! We did a load of dishes tonight and noticed it making strange noises. As you can see, my Mr. HandyMan took it all apart. Come to find out we can buy a new motor for it for about 150 bucks or get a low-end Kenmore for about 250 at Sears. I think we will go and look sometime this week. Looks like til then we will have to do them by hand! Not a big deal at all! I guess you can tell I'm a serious scrapper when I take pics of Luke and the dishwasher!

Scrapping for Soldiers

The hat girls...see how we coordinate our colors?

Sandy and Jeanine

Melissa and Ann

My friend Ann

Me and my pages

Diane working on her pages

Sandi and her ribbon tote

My bracelet and Beauti the lady who gave it to me. Kinda hard to see it since I'm SO pale!

Ann working hard on her beach pages

The far right side of the room

Our tables in the middle

Going towards the left side of the room

The far left side


My friend Ann and I attended a Scrapping for Soldiers Crop this past Saturday. The proceeds went to a scrapbooking organization who makes cards for the soldiers in Iraq. I got there at 9am. that morning and didn't get to sit by my friend Ann. We ended up sitting across from each other which was fine. I got a lot done with my scrapbooking. The venue room was huge! I won a scrapbook hat along with Ann. I even won a Tennis Bracelet from one of the vendors. Our friends Sandy, Jeanine, and Diane also sat at our table. Poor Sandy worked on organizing her ribbon all day and didn't get to make even one page! It was really nice to have a table to sit and scrapbook on and have my Cricut out too! Thanks Ann for encouraging me to go, I had a good time!

Kingdom Technical Party

We had a blast this past Friday night at our Kingdom Technical Party. Mom and Dad host this party every year to say thanks to all the crew that worked such long hours. We had a huge display of food and some wonderful deserts. Mom fixed: sausage balls, quiche, pizza rolls, Texas torte, cheese dip & chips, salsa, cheese balls, Orange Fluff (Dad's favorite and Troy calls it Dead People's Salad), Chicken and bacon wraps, and ham and biscuits. Everyone went around and introduced ourselves and how long we had been working on the Kingdom. There was a lot of laughter and we even watched the program again.

While watching the program you learn things you didn't know went on backstage. Like for instance, Sarah Holloway told me that when Walter came out of the tomb and turned around to the choir, he said, "How'd you like that entrance!" He's a hoot! During the program, we fast-forwarded Bruce...Jim said, "Hey Robert, don't fast forward it, people might get saved....Earl I'm worried about you!" Mr. Earl Teasley is a real gentleman and a funny man. He designed all the special rails made out of sticks and did a wonderful job!

Luke and I didn't leave Mom and Dad's til around 12:30...it was a great time! We have so many wonderful friends through the Kingdom. I know I've said this before, if you think you don't have enough time or energy for the Kingdom, give it a try anyway. You'll be surprised at how the Lord will bless your life and your time!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cookies

Ready to go in the oven

The recipe

The finished product!
Ok, so everyone knows that my favorite thing is Peanut Butter and Chocolate! I got my Kraft magazine in the mail....if you haven't gotten one of these, sign up for free at http://www.kraftfoods.com/ it's their food and family magazine. It's packed full of great recipes. Last night I tried the new potatoes with ranch and bacon and cheese. Hello, they were good! You take 2lbs. (which I used about 6 lemon sized) of new potatoes, quarter them. Toss them with bacon bits, cheese, and 1/2 c. ranch dressing. Bake them for about 40 minutes covered...then another 15 uncovered....GREAT!
So back to the cookies. These are really good. The recipe:
1 box Devils Food Cake Mix
1/2 c. peanut butter
1 egg
4 oz. cream cheese
Mix together on low for about 2 minutes. Then again on medium speed for another 2 minutes. You think it's never going to come together but it does! Roll into 1 inch balls and press with fork dipped in sugar. Bake at 375 for 7-8 minutes. Cool on racks. Enjoy!

Spring and Madison Murphy Willums

She doesn't look too thrilled!

Looking up through our Maple Tree in the backyard

Our dogwood in the backyard is starting to bloom

I love that heavenly sunshine!

This is actually our neighbors Flowering Almond Tree...it faces our bedroom window.

Our Bradford turned green fast this year!

While Luke was busy working, I was busy playing with my camera. I tried and tried to get some good ones of Madison, but she doesn't like the camera. Our Molly Margaret didn't mind at all taking pictures...I even had some of her wearing a hat and sunglasses! I still miss her, but Madison is wonderful! Enjoy the pics of Spring and Madison!

I thought I would add a picture of my Mollie Margaret on here. She has been gone now for 3 years and I still miss her. Her and Aunt Debbi are now in heaven....Mom lost her best friend of 42 years and our dog all in the same week!

We had her for 12 years in our family. I stole her actually from a house a few streets over in our old neighborhood. I didn't tell Mom that til about 5 years later! Dr. Mike said she wouldn't have lasted much longer in those conditions. She was a hoot though, she would growl all the time and she didn't really care much for Luke at all. I could always count on her waiting for me at the top of the stairs whenever I came home. She was truly my dog. Luke brought Madison home to me on Valentine's Day in 2006. Molly had been gone about a year and I was really having a hard time letting her go. Madison has helped so much...they even favor each other...but they sure don't act anything alike! I'm so thankful for the years I had with Molly and the chance Luke gave me to love someone who really needed me too!

Snoopy's New Pen

Luke and I found this pen online at Petsmart.com for only 85 bucks! It was a steal considering it didn't come with instructions! Talk about working by the picture! Luke was great at putting it together, I on the other hand just took pictures...hey you have to have something to scrapbook!

It will work out great for our little Snoopy. I have been putting him in his inside kennel when I'm gone during the day, but then I have to rush home and not leave him inside all day either....which has been hard on him and me! So, with this outside kennel, we will put him in there when we leave and he will be great. It has all the room he needs, his own water bottle, and a dog house. Plus it's lined on the inside and out with a hot wire! The only problem we foresee now is him climbing out by standing on his doghouse...so we put it in the middle.

Our yard looks a little bare...but we have seeded already and done weed and feed...so we should have more grass soon. I'm happy with what we have already...it's starting to look great!

Easter Dinner

A Great Family Photo

Then we started getting goofy!

We were all at church this morning. Bro. Bruce gave a wonderful message of the story of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection. I loved his story of how the angels must have handled the events in heaven.....it was great! Afterwards, we all came back to our house for lunch. Chris fixed a wonderful Pork Tenderloin...which he butterflied and stuffed with green apples, walnuts, and a brown sugar sauce. We also had scalloped potatoes, green beans, Key lime pie, and brownie bars for dessert.

Luke and I worked outside all day yesterday. He fixed the deck last night so that no one could get on it. We've been having problems with Stormy climbing under the deck....she almost got stuck, so we decided to put a stop to it all! It was nice to grill and have every dog outside the deck! We even had time for some family photos....they are pretty funny! Enjoy! Happy Easter Everyone!