HAPPY BIRTHDAY

DAVID

Victoria "helping" David blow out his candles! She got all shy/bashful when we sang to him!
Jacqueline is our resident card maker.

Anytime there is a birthday she always

makes one of her special cards!

David was teasing her as he read it out loud

and you can see she was all smiles.

Tomorrow, August 12th, is actually his

birthdate, but it worked out to celebrate

this evening.

Isn't he handsome? He has been letting his hair

grow for exactly one year and decided to

totally cut it off this morning. Victoria did

not recognize him when he walked through the

door this evening. It was so cute!

He looks good with long hair but I honestly believe

that his short hair shows off his handsome features.

"SUMMER" EVENING

CHURCH PICNIC

Victoria absolutely loves corn-on-the cob,

and a family at church absolutely grows

the very best peaches-n-cream!

It was cooked on the spot and it

was delicious!My friend, Vanita, her little puppy Cooper,

and Jacqueline Colson and Scottie playing a cell phone game!
I am not sure exactly who loves who more?

Scottie adores Victoria as much as she

adores him!

Inspite of nasty rain and cool "summer" temps, 61 degrees,

we had a great picnic. I honestly don't think it matters

what the weather, because when you are with this

group of people you have a great time!

We are so blessed to be a part of this awesome church!!

no big news to speak of. . . . .
Another end to a great summer week. The humidity finally cleared around here and we have had some great sleeping weather. I love having the windows open with a nice breeze blowing in. It won't be long and we will have to close up the house for winter! UGH! Our Suburban has been in the "fix-it" shop all week and I am so anxious to get it back. It will be such a blessing to have air again, plus alot of minor problems are getting fixed as well. Den has done an amazing job of locating parts for our friend to use. He was even able to locate an almost new bumper for the back too! (on the eve of Thanksgiving Brett was rear-ended and the bumper got squished) I am so excited to finally have a normal one back on. I must say, inspite of the horrendous gas prices, I do enjoy driving the suburban, however, I have thoroughly loved driving our church van all week. I love sitting high and ruling the road!!! But gosh, it seems like every time I go out it needs gas. Today I was coming down our street and ran out of gas. I was so thankful I could coast into the driveway, and was even more thankful that it was here and not far away. WHEW that was a close one. $10 doesn't go too far in a "gas hog".

We are headed out to the campground tonight for some good country dancin!. We all love to go and this will be the first we have been able to get there all summer. We have such fun and the kids enjoy tooling around in the golf karts too!

I am in the countdown phase of school and am so excited to see it come to an end. However, I have thoroughly enjoyed my Pilates class and have meet some great people through it. Of course, I am the oldest student! There are two other moms taking it along with me and I have become fast friends with one, a mom of 4, who is in her last year of college. We have good laughs over our baby bellies! I hoping to take this class again in the fall, at least I am registered, just trying to find someone to watch Victoria for 2 hours, 2 days a week.

Brett and Blake start their fall workouts on Monday. Brett is playing soccer and Blake tennis. Brennan is going to run cross-country but that won't start until the first week of school. Its definitely going to be an amazing schedule to try and keep and I know Den and I will have to part ways for some of the games.

This morning we had our monthly ladies breakfast at church. Its always such a pleasure to spend time with other women, we have great laughs, and a great time of sharing and prayer. What a gift!

Tomorrow we have our summer church picnic late in the afternoon. We have such a fun time, great food, great fellowship and lots of fun games for everyone to enjoy. We are so thankful for this church and the love and encouragment they continue to show not only to us but to anyone. They love to serve others; isn't that what we are supposed to do? sometimes we get caught up in "us" and our own issues and forget that its when we serve we are served!

Enjoy your weekend. . . . . .they go way too fast!

An awesome find!

Yesterday Jacqueline and I did a little school shopping. On our way to our "favorite" department store we stopped at a few garage sales. As I walked up the drive I noticed a slew of backpacks for sale. I scanned the lot and saw a pretty pink "Jansport" but never said a word because I knew my darling daughter had her heart set on the pretty trendy polka-dot one (remember a previous post about this?). She soon followed behind and saw the backpacks and spotted the Jansport. She then says, "mom, look at this awesome backpack, isn't it cute?" Of course, I was elated that she had found it all by herself without any nudging from me. I told her to ask the lady how much and she then proceeds to tell me, "Mom, its only $3 can we buy it?" Can we buy it? I was thrilled that my sweet little girl would want a, lesser than trendy pretty pink, used pack over the trendy new polka-dot one! Completely touched by her decision, I had to take a hard look at myself because sometimes, I am less than thrilled with something because I had my heart set on something bigger or better. She sure showed up her mom yesterday, for sure, by her sweet spirit!

Colson and his "new dew"

He has been wanting me to shave

his head. He kept saying,

"I know I'm gonna look like Scottie!"

actually Jacqueline said he

looked like Walker!

Whoever he looks like he is "adorable"

August. . . can you believe it?

WHEW. . . . lots going on here in our household. . . kids getting ready for soccer/x-country/tennis practices, heading back to college and school and Bryan heading out to Colorado (further testing for the State Police Academy). He is going to be staying with friends at a DUDE RANCH. How cool is that? What an exciting adventure for this kid. The rest of us, well, we are excited too. Lots of change in store for us, and we are getting ready, planning and pursueing.

Only two more weeks of summer school left! HIP HIP HOORAH! It has been challenging yet self-fulling to head back to college. I am enjoying my summer classes, yet anxious for them to end to have some downtime with the Den and the kids. Already the fall semester is looming and what a bummer that I start a week before my kiddos head back to school. Brett has been an enormous help this summer babysitting two days a week. He has done a fine job of keeping the house running smoothly and taking care of Victoria. It sure makes it easier to leave knowing that the kids are in capable hands. I am blessed to have such a group of guys that are willing to pitch in and help with anything! They are gonna make some fine husbands and daddys some day!!! I am a little bummed at Bry, however, because we were supposed to take a Sociology course together this fall and now his path has changed. . . . so I had to rework my fall semester schedule. Just kidding, what fun it would have been to be in class with my son! Makes me smile to think of it!

It sure will be different for us this fall with Ben off to college and Bry off to Colorado. People always ask how many kids we have left at home and I still have to count! Its always easy to say we have 12 kids but I have to work hard at remembering how many are still here. Crazy. Its like when someone wants to know a birth year of a child who is smack in the middle of the pack and I have to go through the first 5, 6 or whatever to figure it out!

Well I seem to be rambling and there is still chores to be done, baths to be taken, laundry to start (always) and school work to be completed, and of course, enjoying the pool and the sun!

Thursday's "Colson-ism". . . .
As I was typing away this morning, Colson was busily coloring next to me when he stopped and said, "mom, you don't even have to look at the keyboard to type that fast. How did you learn how to do that?. . . . . . WHOA! mom, you're fast." (he shows me how fast with his hands on an imaginary keyboard) I then proceeded to tell him how I learned how to type, way back in high school. He then asks, "how old were you?. . . .do they still teach that today?"

I don't think he has ever paid much attention to my typing skills before, he is usually busy talking or playing. But this morning, without any other sound but the keyboard clicking away, he was impressed with my typing abilities; so much so that he stopped several times to watch my fingers move across the keyboard.

Now he's busily coloring and singing, "play that funky music whiteboy. . . . " he isn't quiet very often, actually its a rare experience! Seriously, we always make comment on how he and Branden were cut from the same mold. Den and I call him Scottie Jr! Gotta love 'em both because they sure make things happen in this family!!!!

~~Last night Den and I were able to slip away, without kids, for a little alone time. We decided to go to one of the area's parks. The setting was beautiful, freshly fallen summer rain, gorgeous green grass, lush tress, and the smell of wet earth. Love it! We found a serene setting and parked. It'a not very often we can leave the chaos of home and enjoy a quiet moment together. We were able to pray and share. What a blessing to have a husband who goes before the throne of grace for me and our family. I love hearing him pray and it blesses my heart to hear him pray for each of our children. There are many times that praying, for my family, is overwhelming for me; 12 children, some with spouses, one with kids; as a parent we only want the best for our children, yet I tend to forget to ask God what He "wants" for them and what He sees is "best" for them. So, we sat there with our heads bowed, in our car, sharing our hearts with our Heavenly Father.It was awesome! I can't wait to do it again. There is something about praying with your spouse, your bestfriend, that just can't be matched with anyone else~~

What a great thunderstorm we received

late this afternoon. I love the thunder and

lightening and to top it off we were

blessed with a double rainbow.

We could see the full arc of one and

the beginning and end (with a faint

spray of color in the middle on

the top one).

How awesome and beautiful!

Lunch-time "Colson-ism"

. . . .I wonder what it feels like to

be a bug and have somebody "flick" you!

Pay-if forward Contest

Since I won the pay-if-forward contest off

of Jenn's "always an adventure" blog I have

been racking my brains trying to think of

an awesome give-away. Bear with me

hear, I am working on it and haven't forgotten,

it will be posted in a few days.

So stay tuned. . . . .

When I got home from class today I found this

awesome little package in the mail from someone

I did not know. I was excited to open it and found

these sweet little soaps and the nicest card ever.

The soaps came from "Mud Puddle Girl" via

Heidi Bott. Thanks Heidi, for giving up your

give-away for me. What a great gift and I

appreciate your thoughtfulness with

the "pampering" and all!

I am anxious to use them but am going

to wait until I have some time alone,

maybe when Den and I go away

for our anniversary.

AHHHH. . . . thats a perfect time!

Wilson's Art work

every month we get a great piece of art from

Wilson. Here is a sample of the great artwork

he has been sending us.

Thanks Wilson!

(and mom too)

Victoria loves this little dog, OX.

She thinks he is her personal playmate!

Jacqueline and Victoria loving on each other
Every night this week we have had a couple

fly by on their 4-wheeler. Colson loves

watching them zip by and they always

wave to him. Here he is, with Victoria

waiting for them to ride by again!

Miss Houdini

our little escape artist

Victoria lovin' on Oxford
This afternoon I just happened to walk by the

back door and something caught my eye. . . .

a tiny little girl wiggly toe!!! I looked out the door

and saw Victoria sitting right next to the door

playing with her brothers squirt gun and

petting Scotties dog, Oxford!

Of course a thousand scenarios run through

your mind after the fact!

Now, not only do we have to keep the bathroom

doors closed, the study doors closed, but we

have to make sure our screen door is constantly

locked so our little miniature "Houdini"

cannot escape!

Colson, Jacqueline and Brennan

enjoying some 4th of July fun!

balloons. . . ready. . . .set. . . . throw!

We sat outside this evening watching the kids hit baseballs and jump on the trampoline. The air is brisk and cool here, like a fall evening, definitely weird for July 3rd. Here are a few shots of the kids at play.

Our little "Keebler Elf" is 21!

Happy Birthday Bryan!

We love you and are so proud of you!

What a gift you are to us!

SLEEPY HEAD

This morning as I was getting ready for church

Victoria sat playing beside me by the back door.

She ususally comes in and tries to snatch anything

she can out of my make-up drawer but I guess

this morning she was just too tired. I was drying

my hair and turned to check on her and this is how

I found her. I didn't have the heart to move her as

I knew she would awaken and not go back to sleep,

so I left her laying there. What a dirty, grubby

place for such a cutie to fall asleep!

Jeep Fun!

Scottie and Victoria
Colson all set for the ride!
Victoria and her "cheesy" smile!
She thinks she's a "hot" driver and

top "horn honker".

These two kids love Scottie and they

love his jeep. Colson is always asking for

a ride, especially when the top is off.

They both got a short ride up and down

the street and they thought they

were the coolest ever!

What a "great" big brother to do this

for his siblings!

Daniel & Elizabeth these

next few photos are for you!

This girl loves, in every sense of the word,

POPCORN!

Our first official week of no school. I think I hear the "Hallelujah Chorus" being played in the background. . . . . It's been so nice not having to scurry here or there. I started my week off with dentists appointments for two of the boys. While at the dentist office, yesterday, I made all our summer doctor, more dental and eye appointments and enrolled Brennan in a summer class in an area school district. I took my calendar with me and from my cell scheduled everything. (how did I survive all those years without a cell phone?) As I ended my final conversation the boys were done with their dental exams.

I am in the last two weeks of my spring semester class. WHEW! I honestly didn't think I was going to make it either! I start summer classes as soon as this class is finished then will have a break and fall classes will begin when the kids return to school after Labor Day. I can't even let my mind get ahead to that, letting go of the kids AGAIN!

This past year at Jacqueline's school was rough. We have been here for 9 years and the complexion of our school has drastically changed. We have some pretty severe discipline issues, some extremely tough kids and involved familys are now the minority. We have considered transfering both her and Colson to another area elementary school but their first grade classes are well over their allotment. So what do we do? Do we stay and try and make a difference in our school, do we homeschool, or do we put in for the school of choice and hope that by August there will be a spot for Colson? Pondering all this makes me realize how this scenario mirrors my walk with God. Do I want to take the easy road in my faith and trust, want everything to be comfortable, or do I dig my heels in, muster up all the resolve and determination I can and continue the journey. As in most of my life, my family's live's, we aren't traditional "follow the same path kind of people". God has emblazed on our hearts to constanly search and seek Him which always mean we cut a new trail. Oh, life would be great if we could, just once, follow someone else's lead, but our call is to follow Christ's lead and for us, for me, that means staying the course, continuing the trek. I knew when I was pursuing the idea of switching the kids that my heart was not at ease. You ever have those conversations with yourself trying to talk yourself into something but your heart just doesn't have peace? Thats the situation here. Knowing there was no room for Colson told me that we are to stay put. Am I happy about it, frankly, NO,but. . . .this is where God has called me, Den and our kids to serve. Can I try and be a light in a darkened world? Absolutely! will it be easy, probably not. But our mission is to go and touch others, and I know this is where He wants us to be and I want to be a part of His mission, His purpose, His plan and I definitely want to be where He is working.

The lazy, hazy days of summer begins. . . .

Our first offical day of summer vacation. . . . ahhhhhh. . . . . .feels so good to not jump into life each morning, especially this morning. I had forgotten how tiring it was to get up with a baby. Victoria has been sleeping so much better these past few weeks and I have been getting almost 6 straight hours of sleep. Its been wonderful and I haven't been dragging all day but last night she woke up at 1:30 with a fever. This poor little doll just can't catch a break. I am pretty sure its her teeth. She has 4 more to come in and they have almost broken the skin. We both fell asleep on the sofa about 9am. The kids are all starting to come alive now after enjoying the opportunity to sleep in.

We had a busy day yesterday. I decided it would be fun to go out to lunch to celebrate summer vacation! Amanda and the boys met us as did Casey. We then came home and hung out for a few hours before heading downtown for our annual Summerfest/end of the year parade. It was rather muggy but a beautiful summer evening. The parade, as always, was a huge hit and Victoria had fun waving and collecting candy and beaded necklaces. Our church participated so she was real excited to see Daddy come along. On our way home we figured we had been gone 4 hours!

Today will be a great day to hit the pool with temperatures hitting almost 90. We are definitely taking advantage of the warm weather because one never knows how long it will last in our part of the country!!!

We are experiencing some unusally warm and

humid weather this weekend. I just love it!

This afternoon we had some severe weather

roll in and it was awesome! I was out

getting things for our elementary schools

field day tomorrow and came out of the

grocery store to an unbelievably dark,

but beautiful sky. I came home to find

that we were under a tornado warning.

Oh how fun! Everyone but Den and Victoria

were in the basement and I kept a watchful

vigil on the sky outdoors. Jacqueline

was spending the afternoon with Dave & Casey

at their apartment, on the other side of

town, and Dave would call and give me

updates on how they were doing there. At

one point he says, "stay on the phone with

me, mom, we are gonna seek cover

in the bathroom and I am going to drag

the futon cover in there." Of course

this made me a bit nervous with my girl

across town but I knew her big brother and

sister would make sure she was taken care of.

They are enjoying some special time with

her and she is enjoying some special attention

from them.

Anyways. . . I just love this kind of turbulent weather.

I love the thunder and lightening; the louder the better.

A new adventure. . . . a new marriage. . . .

a new state. . . .and a new puppy. . . .

We said our "goodbyes" to Daniel and Elizabeth

this morning. WOW! was that hard!

Definitely bittersweet! So happy for them,

excited for them, and thrilled for them;

yet our hearts are heavy because we will

miss them both dearly.

We are so thankful for the technology

we are able to enjoy today that will

keep us close. What a blessing!

We are blessed that they have an

awesome church that loves them both

and a youth group that can't wait

for their return!

The Honeymooners are Home~~
Daniel and Elizabeth came home Friday afternoon from Hawaii. We sure did miss them and we enjoyed hearing all about thier trip and seeing all the beautiful pictures they took.

Yesterday after church we had Elizabeths family over, the DeWeese & Cox family from Lansing, to see them unwrap their wedding gifts. Elizabeth was so cute letting Daniel unwrap them. She said she unwrapped all the shower gifts and it was his turn to unwrap the wedding gifts. David commented that it was alot like Christmas but that only two were visited by "Santa"! It was such fun listening to the kids and visiting with Elizabeth's parents and grandparents. Afterwards we enjoyed cake and ice cream and then all went outside for the "corn hole" tournament. Such a fun yard game made and given to us by Elizabeth's grandparents from Ohio. Of course he was kind enough to paint it in the colors of our favorite university!!!! We had many rounds of "corn hole" and then filtered inside for some dinner and more visiting.

What a great weekend and what an awesome blessing to have new family to share life with. We are so blessed that Daniel has married into a family that loves and serves God.

We are going to enjoy the next few days with the kids and then they will pack and be off to their new home out west.

Unfortunately we still have a few sick ones, Jacqueline and Colson now have the dreaded HFM virus and thankfully Victoria is well on her way to recovery. PTL

Lunch LIMO-style. . .
Jacqueline was chosen to eat lunch today at a local restaurant and travel there in a Limo. Our elementary school chooses kids who have demonstrated kindness, thoughtfulness and friendship to have a special lunch out. Today was Jacquelines day. She was so excited. Colson, Victoria and I drove downtown and waited outside of the restaurant for Jacquie to come out. We were able to snap a few pictures and hoot-and-holler for her. She is so adorable and we are so blessed to have this precious girl as a daughter!

Our first born son is 29 today!

He is celebrating his birthday

in Africa

where he is so graciously

serving our country!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

BRAD!

we sure do wish we could be together

to celebrate!

We love you and miss you dearly!

and sickness continues. . . . .

I thought we were all finally on the mend and over any kind of sickness but nope that is not the case. Victoria came down with a fever a week ago. Poor little thing. She barely recovered from the food poisoning and then WHAM she is hit again. I assumed it was new teeth breaking through but Sunday proved me wrong. She contacted Hand-foot-mouth virus. Her little mouth and throat are full of canker sores. She has hardly eaten anything and has barely drank either. Today is the first day in exactly a week that she has felt more like herself. Last night before church, Colson said he wasn't feeling well either. Lo and behold the poor guy has got HFM virus too! He hasn't gotten any canker sores yet, but I am sure they will pop up any day. This is very contagious so he is out of school for a few days. I feel so bad for him too because tomorrow is his K field day and he has been so excited about it. He keeps saying that he will be fine to go, but I am fairly certain he won't. Now I am just praying our little grandson's don't come down with this either. . . . .

a few "random"

Kodak Moments. . . . .

2 sleeping Beauties!

Den, our grandson Walker, and Victoria

an Uncle and a Nephew enjoying laughs!

The wedding is over. . . . .it was absolutely BEAUTIFUL and went off without one hitch. Elizabeth and Daniel were a gorgeous Bride and Groom. The reception was alot of fun visiting with family and friends.

In the wee hours of Sunday morning we began our descent into sickness, first one, then another, then another and so on. Total sick in our home: 8. Many others came down with the same sickness too. Dave and Casey, even Daniel and Elizabeth. Our best guess is food poisioning. Everyone is still feeling kind of punky today. Daniel and Elizabeth are on their way to Hawaii and hopefully soon they will begin enjoying the sun and the surf.

I will post some pictures, of the EVENT, when I get the chance. Off to eat a few crackers and read my homework for the week! UGH! I am beginning to wonder why I decided to take a few classes. Was I brain dead or what????

Hey there. . . . . . .we are finally here at Daniels and it sure seems good to see him in his own surroundings and see his life here in ND.

This morning I asked Daniel what I could help him with, laundry; vacuuming his truck and washing it; packing for the trip; and he said, "mom just relax and enjoy a bit of a vacation." Then Jacqueline piped in and said, "come on Daniel, you know mom. . . . " with that comment I just laughed. She is so right. I am busy, busy, busy and its hard to find yourself with nothing to do, its so out of the norm for me. I did manage to do a small load of dishes, and a couple of loads of laundry, take a quiz and finish and assignment for my class and am now trying to relax. Its rather hard with a 15 month old crusing through this apartment getting into anything and everything she can. Its amazing how fast this girl is. WHEW wish I had her energy. The kids did great on the drive out but they sure are tired today. Its really their bedtime but the sun is shinging brightly and though our body clocks are an hour ahead its awfully hard to tuck them in with the sun out.

We had dinner with a couple from Daniels church tonight. What a great time and were well fed and cared for. I am so thankful Daniel has great friends to love on him and care for him here, and I know they will also love Elizabeth and make her feel right at home.

The area is beautiful and its nice to see that all the snow they received 2 weeks ago, over 2 ft, is now GONE! We have traveled in and out of ND and MN all day long. Weird to be so close to another states border but kind of cool too.

We will be traveling home Sunday afternoon after dinner. Not sure yet if we will stop and spend the night or just make straight for home. Depends on the kids. I bought two new movies today at Walmart for the trip home. It was rather enjoyable watching a movie in the car on the way out, certainly took my mind off the busy traffic.

Hey kiddos, back home, if you read this I surely miss you all and love you deeply. Thanks for taking such good care of everything and everyone!

SORRY. . . . . . . .

Just not able to post anything specific way too busy. . . . . preparing to leave for North Dakota, taking classes at the University, getting things ready here for the kids while we are gone, and getting ready for the wedding.

Maybe I will be able to post something significant soon, but don't count on it!

Graduation 2008

We had the priviledge of attending

Elizabeth's graduation yesterday.

Here are a few shots of the afternoon!

The last picture was taken while

celebrating at Sorrentos with

Elizabeth's family and ours.

. . . .More Puppy Pictures. . . .

I just had to post this picture of Victoria,

she just loves these puppies and gets so

excited when she can get near them.

Such a GIRL. . .so dramatic!

Here are just a few quick shots of

Colson and Victoria with the puppies!

They both can't keep their hands off

them and Winnie is so good to let

anyone hold or pet them!