It's the MOST wonderful time of the year!!

Santa Parade in Logan, Ohio the weekend following Thanksgiving!!

Went shopping with friends and family the day after Thanksgiving at Longaberger Homestead!! We are getting ready to have lunch in this picture!

Friends at Longaberger Homestead Restaurant.

My sister Lisa, with Kaitlyn and cousin Grace.

My mom, sisters Lori and Diana, my nephew's wife, Kassandra and her friend.

My mom in a basket!!

Posing with HO! HO! HO!..(lamps)

My dear children posing for their mom.

and....my tree is up and has been for about 2 weeks now!!

Now you see what I have been doing with some of my time!! Of course I have also been working, shopping and we had a church and I had my work Christmas party!!

Christmas time!! What a busy time of the year!

It's been a while......

I can't believe that it has been a month since I have posted!! We have been busy!!!! Right now we are enjoying the Christmas season!! I will post again real soon!! I promise!

Something to look forward to.....2012

I found this on Glenn Beck's website!! :)

Cast down, but not defeated!!

America has spoken!!! It's a little hard to swallow for me in a way, because we know where our country is with God, but, I'm sure not defeated because I know that God is in control!!!
I am thankful that we all got to "meet" Sarah Palin!! She is an inspiration and was a breath of fresh air for a couple months!! I don't think she will be going away for good!! I am sure we will see her again! May God Bless Sarah Palin and her family, John Mccain and his family!! And..may God bless America..our home sweet home!!!

My little Princess!

Lauren dressed up as Cinderella for her party today at preschool!!

Thought this was cute!

I was in Panera Bread Restaurant on Saturday night to purchase a gift certificate and noticed they had "hope" bagels. I purchased one to take to work with me on Sunday for breakfast!! I thought I would share!! It was yummy (cherry,cranberry,vanilla and brown sugar)!!

McCain/Palin Rally!

We were so priveleged to go see John McCain and Sarah Palin yesterday!!! We had a great time!! We stood for about 4 hours!! We weren't actually too far away!! Me, Scott and Jon went!! Lauren was at the Columbus zoo with her preschool class and Kaitlyn decided that she needed to be at school the whole day! Here are a couple pictures!

Happy Birthday, Kaitlyn!!

Nine years ago today, little Miss Kaitlyn came in to our lives!!:) She is 9 going on 15!! LOL!! We were in Nelsonville today. Scott was filling in for The Fisher's while they were holding a revival in West Virginia!! So, she got to spend her birthday at Grandma Donna's house!! I think she was pretty happy!!

And I believe that's all I will blog for today!! I am tired and have a class tomorrow!! I need to get to bed very soon!

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month!

In Washington Tuesday night, First Lady Laura Bush flipped a switch which bathed the White House in pink light, a reminder that it's national breast cancer month.
"We're showing our support of breast cancer awareness and research in a historic way. In recognition of the mothers, daughters, sisters and wives who struggle with this disease, we're lighting the White House in pink which is the color of the cause. May our lights tonight shine as beacons around the world a signal of the United States commitment to saving lives for breast cancer."
Mrs. Bush then pressed the switch turning the White House pink.

A day with the Fishers...

We met Scott's cousins, Jason and Missy and their family today in Amish Country for a Harvest Fest!!

I think everyone had a good time!:)

"Pumpkin Patch"

Today I went with Lauren and her pre-school class on a field trip to the pumpkin patch. Here she is getting on the bus!

We went to Maize Valley...

On the hayride to the pumpkin patch...

In the pumpkin patch to pick a pumpkin..

She found a pumpkin!!

Playing on a hay pile..

Clear on the top!

Petting the animals there...

Lauren with her pumpkin again..

Xavier, my great nephew, with his pumpkin!

All the kids sitting in front of a hay bale with a pumpkin face painted on it!

We had a nice day...a little chilly, but I don't think the kids were too worried about it!! They had a lot of fun!!:-)

Scott's Dad

Scott's dad was diagnosed with prostate cancer this past week. Scott went with his dad and mom today to Cincinnati to the doctor. He had a bone scan which showed no cancer in his bones. He does have aggressive prostate cancer so the doctor says there is a 70% chance that it has spread outside of his prostate. The doctor is recommending radiation and radiation seeds. He is not recommending surgery but will leave the decision for Steve to make. Please keep them in your prayers as they make a decision on treatment.

Happy Birthday!!!

Today I am 35 years old!! Wow!! It may seem old..but really..I am still young!!LOL Ha! Ha!!
I had a busy day!! I took the kids to school and then my mom took me to eat at Bob Evans. I also had two doctor's appointments!! Our Homecoming Revival started tonight and then we got treated to McDonald's afterward by a family from church!
The greatest thing that happened today was I got rid of my last drain from surgery!! I had five after surgery and got rid of four of them after one week!! The last one I had for four weeks and two days!! I am so glad it is gone!! If you have ever had a drain after surgery, you know what I am talking about! I have to say, I was becoming quite creative with trying to conceal it in my clothes!!:)
I went and seen my co-workers today as well, since I was in the hospital for one of my doctor's visits!! I have been off work now for about seven weeks due to my gallbladder surgery and then my reconstruction surgery! It was the hospital's birthday today, too!! 100 years old!! (See, I am young!!):) They were having cake all over the hospital to celebrate! But, for their birthday, they have Joint Commission visiting for the week!!!:-/ Not a very good present I would say!! I am sooo glad I am not there!! For those of you who don't know, Joint Commission or JACHO conducts periodic unannounced surveys of Medical Centers. They give accreditation and certification that is recognized nationwide as a symbol of quality that reflects an organization’s commitment to meeting certain performance standards. It can be quite stressful at the hospital while this is all going on!! People looking over your shoulder and asking a million questions! It was nice to see a few of my co-workers though and they were quite relaxed when I got there because they had already been through a round with the JACHO people and felt as if it had went well!! Which is a good thing!!:)
So, I made it through the day and I am quite tired so..................I think I better get to bed!!

The first day of Fall!!

Today is the first day of Fall!! My favorite time of the year!! I can't wait to get all my decorations out!! I probably almost have more Fall decorations or almost more than Christmas!! (Oh no!!...did I say that word):-/

Church Parking Lot Festival!!

We had our first church-community parking lot "festival" today!! It was a beautiful day and everything turned out well for the most part, considering it is a rough neighborhood! A lot of people from the community came out and we got to hand out christian tracts and literature about the church. There was flatbed singing, inflatables for the kids to play on, corn hole games, sidewalk chalk, balloons, face painting and a clown!! Hotdogs with sauce, chips, cookies, brownies and pop were served as well! Gabe Norris came from Zanesville and gave a talk on salvation to the crowd!!

Now, church in the morning!! I am sure there will be a few tired ones there!!:)

I am reminded of the words to a song..."In the shadow of our steeples, souls are dying. Does anyone care, can you hear them crying?"

9/11...We will never forget!!

School is in full swing!!

Well, this will be the first full week of school this week!! Everything seems to be running smoothly so far!! Kaitlyn and Jon have had two piano lessons and that seems to be going well too!! Lauren is going to Pre-School/Daycare about every day....especially since I am trying to get back to normal myself....slowly but surely!! Walmart is one place that is a little overbearing for me right now!! It makes me real tired!! I am sticking to the smaller stores, if I have to pick something up!! As for housework...that is tiring too, but I am trying to do little bits!! I have to say, Scott and the kids have been helping me out a lot!! I am thankful for that!! My house could look a lot worse right now!!LOL
I still have one drain left of the five I came home with. Hopefully that will come out tomorrow when I see my surgeon again!!

My Mom and Dad

Mom and Dad celebrated their 45th Wedding Anniversary last Sunday the 24th!! We had them a surprise celebration!! It turned out really nice!! I am so thankful for great christian parents!! I love them!

Dad celebrated his 70th birthday this week as well! Here is a picture of Pappy and Lauren.