I'm Home

I'm home, finally!!! After 6 potty breaks, 3 food/drink stops and 1 stop for a complete outfit change (thanks Kallee dear, grrr), we are home. We had planned on staying in MI until tomorrow (Friday), but when we heard they were going to get dumped on (snow that is), we decided to head home. Of course my hubby and BIL thought we should stay because of all the bad weather we were suppose to be getting down here, but... Thank the Lord He held all the snow and ice and junk off until we made it home safe. My sister however was just up there over the weekend, so she has been at Mom & Dad's more in a week's time, than at home, so she was ready to be home. --I can't wait, I hope we DO get the 5-9" of snow so we can go out and play, YEAH! I LOVE snow, of course I am always ready for it to be gone by March, but...

P.S. The funeral went fine, there were lots and lots of people, the funeral home was completely packed. If you think of my cousin Janice and her family, say a prayer for them. I'm sure it won't be easy for all of them for awhile.

Way To Go Keegan

My little man Keegan, came home last Thursday with (5) 100%'s!!! He is doing so well in school, so much for all the worrying we did, lol! He loves his teacher Miss Lyndsey, he thinks she is great! However, he doesn't like it when she gives him "frowny faces", it makes him sad. I told him if he didn't like them, STOP GETTING IN TROUBLE AND HE WOULDN'T GET THEM!

Off To Michigan I Go

We found out on Saturday, my cousin, Janice Russell lost her husband Bill. He wasn't very old, probably in his early to middle 50's. I believe it was heart related, but not for sure. Anyways, my sister Shirley is around Janice and Bill's age, so she would like to go to the funeral. She called me this a.m. so Kallee & I are heading to MI. I won't be back until later this week, so the posts will be very few. Please pray for the family during this time, that God will open their hearts to His love and mercy! -- Hope you all have a great week!

My Very Own Oompa Loompa

It is finally over with, wwwhhheeewww! Talon had his last performance in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, on Saturday night. He had 6 performances between Wednesday and Saturday, so he worked his little tail off, lol! There were 85 kids that auditioned and only 21 parts to fill, needless to say, we were very proud of him when he landed 2 of those parts. He was an Oompa Loompa and an Understudy Narrator (meaning he got to recite the Narrator's lines in two performances). Of course, I think him and the other understudy narrator did a much better job than the actual narrators, but...I'm a little prejudice, HA! I did however get to see both the narrators and the understudy narrators in action, so that helped me to make my decision. Talon & Heather Hunter (the understudies) were full of emotions and said their parts very loud and clear, so I was sure proud of them! The was his second play with the Clinton County Youth Theatre and he loved every minute of it. He is excited to audition for this summers musical they will be performing. Here are several photos of the play, enjoy!

Grandpa Joe & Grandma Josephine, along with Grandma Georgina & Grandpa George (played by: Matthew Blackburn, Julie Prithcett, Leah Keaver & Jeremy Stitsworth)
Mrs. & Mr. Salt, their lovely daughter Veruca Salt (played by: Katelyn Smith, Trevor Hundley & Natali Bacon), along with Augustus Gloop & Mrs. Gloop (played by: Joshua Ford &
Andrea Sheppard). This is when they first arrived at the Wonka Chocolate Factory!

Augustus eating from the Chocolate river, Talon sitting by watching in shock and disgust!

Talon is the first one, in the back row, on the left-hand side!

Karissa Lipp (Talon's cousin) beside him, both playing an Oompa Loompa part.

Mrs. Teavee, Mike Teavee, Mr. Teavee, Grandpa Joe & Charlie Bucket (played by: Stephanie Butchko, Isaac Keever, Nathan Hodge, Matthew Blackburn & Evan North)

Talon doing his Narrator part!

Talon & Heather introducing us to the "Bucket Family"!

More Oompa Loompa parts (their were 16 of them total)

All done!!!

Mom & Dad with Talon, so proud of him!

God is Good

Well Revival is over once again, and God proved to be good once again! There were many victories won this week and we want to thank Him for them! May God bless all of you that went to the altar and may He keep you refreshed in His love!

Another Gma Update

First of all we would like to thank everyone for your phone calls and many prayers! She is feeling much better and was able to come home today. Thanks again for all your prayers!

Update on Grandma Hysel

Jerry was in meetings all day yesterday, therefore we didn't get to go see Grandma until last night. The poor thing was completely miserable and you could tell she was in a lot of pain. I HATE seeing people like that, it makes me sad : ( I just talked with my MIL a few minutes ago and she said Gma isn't as nauseated today as she was yesterday, so that's a good thing. They are going to get her up and have her walk to see if they can get the blockage to move and get the intestine to straighten out. Every time they got her up yesterday she would almost pass out and then she felt like she was going to get sick : ( Since she doesn't feel as sick today, hopefully when she gets up that will get things movin'. If it doesn't, it appears she will have to have surgery. Please keep her in your prayers. Thanks so much for the phone calls, it makes it nice to know that people care : )

Frozen Water Pipes

We woke up this morning with no water in the downstairs bathroom, AHHHH! It seems if it is always those pipes, so Jerry said he is gonna have to do some work on them when it is above 0! As he was rigging up a heater to put in the crawlspace, one of his friends called and said his pipes were frozen too, so... Hopefully it will warm up a bit so we don't have to worry about this again. He came down last night to get his medicine and said "I was sure I turned on those faucets", but I guess he didn't, UGH! He has been fighting one of those nasty colds this week, so he wasn't looking forward to crawling under the cold house. Thank the Lord he didn't have to, by placing the heater down in the crawlspace, it didn't take long and on they came. What a nice treat to start our day, HA! Oh well, I guess it could have been worse.

Weekly Beginning

As I begin my week, I have taken comfort in knowing that God is FAITHFUL to us, no matter what life may bring!!! Our pastor spoke on faith yesterday and then today that was in my devotions as well, I think God is trying to teach me to have more faith : ) I have always felt that I have had faith, but after some recent circumstances, I KNOW I have faith! I have faith that God will take us through whatever trial we may face, PRAISE THE LORD!!! --We begin Revival on Tuesday evening, so if you aren't busy, come visit us some evening. The weekly services will begin each night at 7:00, and at 6:00 Sunday evening. We will be having The Steve & Nicole Cassady Family, they are great people! We are excited to see what God has in store for all of us! --As this new year is in full swing, I want to thank the Lord publicly, for helping me in my personal devotions! He has been there every day, guiding me along the way. This morning as I was reading my Bible, I told Kallee she needed to busy herself so I could finish my devotions. She climbed on my lap as I finished and every now and then, she would ask, "are you done with your motions"? I thought that was cute the way she said it, but then I began to pray, Lord help my devotions not to be just motions! Help me not to get in a runt, as I have in the past, and to keep pushing full speed ahead, as I do my daily devotions! I truly want to get something out of my devotions, so I have been praying that God will help me to do so. May this be your prayer too, as you face a new day, every day of the week!

Ya Do The Hokie Pokie

Every night when we put Kallee to bed, she has to have her lamp on and her Veggie Tale cd playing. I don't feel as if I am spoiling her, because I have slept with a night light and radio for years. Anyways, if she happens to make it to song #13 on her cd, it is the Hokie Pokie. For some reason she DOES NOT like the "Pokie Pokie" song and crys for us to shut it off. Today I was singing that song while getting dressed and she said, "I don't like that Pokie Pokie song". I said, "why not"? "I just don't", she replied. So I tried to convince her that it was a fun song and she needed to like it. After doing the motions with her, she started singing it to the top of her lungs and was doing the motions too. I said "see, that is a fun song, isn't it"? She still didn't think it was, ugh! So...I went into her room and turned the cd on and started the whole singing/motions thing again and she joined in. She now likes the song, but it is no longer the Pokie Pokie, it is the Holy Pokie, LOL!!! For some reason she thought the kids on the cd said Holy Pokie, so she started singing it that way.

Chona Pierce Concert

Just wanted to let you all know, Christian comedian Chonda Pierce will be coming to Frankfort, on Friday, February 22nd. There are only 300 tickets left and they are going VERY fast, so if you want a ticket, you need to call the First Church of the Nazarene, ASAP (765-654-6387). The concert will start at 7:00, but doors will open at 6:00 (seating is on a "first come, first serve basis", so if you want a good seat, BE THERE AT 6:00)! If you wish to see a video clip of her, go to my friend Julie's blog: gurneejourney.blogspot.com. --I plan on going with a friend of mine, but I have also invited all of my sisters and a couple more friends. If you plan on going and would like to go out to eat afterwards, maybe we could get a giant table at Arni's or something. I think it will be great "Girl Fun"!

Another Kallee Funny

Tonight I had a meeting, so Jerry took the kids to Lafayette with him. Keegan asked where they were going in Lafayette and Jerry told him, Sam's Club. Kallee said really??? Then she said, "Ho, Ho, Ho"! She thought he said Santa's Club, LOL!

Girls Day Out - 1/08

On Saturday, Jerry, the boys, his Dad and his nephew Lane went to the Gun & Knife Show in Indy. It was going to be a nice day for a "Boy's Day Out". Kallee and I were going to stay home and catch-up on ironing and pull out the old scrapbook stuff and create a ton of lovely pages, LOL! Well that all changed when my MIL called and said "would you like to go shopping today?" Well it didn't take me long to say yes, so...Kallee and I spent the day with my MIL and my niece, Courtney! We had a fun day of shopping and got lots of great bargains. First we headed to Cracker Barrel for a much needed brunch and then we were off to TJ Maxx (one of my favorite stores). There I found a tree skirt for my "new" dining room Christmas tree, for $4.00, YEAH! It was originally $35.00, so I grabbed it quick at $4.00. It isn't exactly what I was looking for, but it was cream colored and it had gold in it, so it will work perfect. I kind of wanted angels or crosses on it since that is my "religious" tree, it has some of my favorite ornaments on it, which include; nativitys, angels, crosses, etc., but I'm not going to complain : ) Then we were off to the mall where we headed to Macy's and Bath & Body, I did purchase several bars of hand soap, as we love it for our showers and were totally out. Of course we hit several stores before heading to Old Navy, where we found pj pants for $3.49, YEAH!!! I am a pj freak and love buying them and when I can get them at that price, that is when I buy them. I like the sets, but most of the time the tops shrink or get really sloppy, so I would rather buy the bottoms and just throw a t-shirt on top. You see, I go to bed dressed like an Eskimo in the winter, so when I can find warm bottoms that cheap... Last but not least, we headed to Wal-Mart on 300S (I believe) and I got the my best deal of the day. 150 count, multi-colored, net light sets, for (drum roll please)... .80cents/box!!! Yes, I know, that is crazy, but they were 90% OFF, now that's my kind of shopping! I have been wanting nets for our bushes out front and for Jerry's office, but at $8.74 and up (per set), NO WAY!!! However, at .80cents a box, I scooped up 12 boxes (I should have bought more), but didn't want to spend any more $$$. So now you have it... our "Girl's Day Out" and the grand savings we found! Thanks for inviting us to go, Betty!

150 count, multi-colored net light sets, YEAH! No more winding

and winding the lights around the bushes!
My $4.00 tree skirt, it has bells and greenery all over it and is trimmed with a thick, gold cord.

New Year's Resolution

Is one of your New Year's resolutions "to lose weight"? Ya know, every year I say I need to lose weight, but every year that doesn't happen so... I have been "toying" with the idea of how I will lose those x-tra pounds I need to, and... I find it kind of humorous that in two of my devotions already this year, have been about losing weight : ) The first title to come was"Weighing In" and the second was "No Sweat", how funny is that? The first one was on "let me be weighed on honest scales, That God may know my integrity" Job 31:6. One thing the author said that hit too close to home was "Thin, does not guarantee health, happiness, or a husband (in her case). Today, and every day, you need to be assured that you are a woman of immeasurable worth and great beauty, "as is, not "when"." She went on to say "Lord weigh my heart. Is it full of love for you and overflowing with compassion for others? Let me rejoice, then, in having a XXXL heart. And let me come to a place of peace about my body, at any size"! --The second reading began with "for physical training is of some value"... HA! She went onto say that walking was her favorite exercise "it was free, it requires no squat thrusts, you don't have to join a club, etc. etc" Her final thoughts were (and very good if I might add)... "As my feet move forward, Lord, let my thoughts move heavenward. Fill me with enough energy to both walk and pray, to take in the bounty of your creation and the beauty of you. Thanks for always walking with me, Jesus". WOW, I guess that gets me "off the hook", HA! No honestly, I DO need to loose some weight, but I don't want it to consume my mind and soul to the point I can't focus on anything else. Help me Lord to focus on the good things in life and help me to be pleasing to you!

P.S. The title of this devotional is "Rise and Shine" by Liz Curtins Higgs.

Immanuel = "God With Us"

I have been reading a book ("Praying the Name of Jesus") that I received for my birthday (thanks Sara) and the first chapter is on Immanuel. Boy did God ever know how much I was going to need to know the meaning of Immanuel; "God with Us"!!! As the year of 2007 closed, our family had faced many difficult times, times we NEVER would have thought our family would have to face! Of course with trials come all those questions you have for God, but I am SOOO thankful that the times of "drawing closer to Him" are right behind all those questions! Some may say, "you aren't suppose to question God", but I say "I am human and God created me that way, therefore He knows I am going to have questions sometimes"!!! I also know that He is standing there waiting for me to ask those questions, so that He can remind me ONCE AGAIN that He is "with us" and that He WILL answer all those questions! I'm gonna do some confessing, so if you don't want to hear it, now would be a great time to click the close button on your screen : ) It is sooo hard for me to take the time to sit down and do my devotions and allow God to work on me!!! There I said it, now you all know : ) I'm sure none of you have that problem, do ya??? HA! I have asked the Lord to help me this new year, and HE HAS!!!! I know it is only the 9th of January, but I am very pleased that I have gotten something out of each of my devotions this year and that God IS working on me! My key scripture yesterday was: Isaiah 58:11 "The Lord will guide you always..." (NIV) and today's key verse was; I Timothy 4:8 "For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for BOTH the PRESENT life and the life to COME" (NIV). PRAISE THE LORD!!!! Once AGAIN God confirms to me, that He is not only "with me", but He WILL guide me ALWAYS, both in the PRESENT and in the life to COME!!! That my friend is an awesome "faith strengthener"!!! We can not dwell on the past, we have to continue to the future and God WILL be "with us", EVERY step of the way!

P.S. I hope this helps anyone who is struggling in any area in your life, keep the faith, God is "with us"!

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

The time has come...to order your tickets for The Clinton County Youth Theatre! It will be presenting "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"; beginning Thursday, January 24th - Saturday, January 26th! All the evening productions are at 7:00 and the Saturday afternoon show will be at 2:00pm. Tickets are available now for $5.00 each (no matter the age) and you may purchase them by calling: 765-654-6307. You may also see a map of the theatre's seating by going online to: www.ccctonline.org (this is The Clinton County Civic Theatre's website). Tickets are NO LONGER available through the library, so make sure to call the # above. I believe there is a FREE performance on Wednesday, January 23 for school aged children, during the school day. If you are interested in more info about this, please let me know. If you wondering why I am promoting this event in great detail, is because...Talon has two roles in this!!! He has landed the role of the 2nd Narrator and an Oompa Loompa. He is really excited about this part, but says he enjoyed playing Rooster in last summer's Annie Jr., much better (kids, HA)!!! Anyway take a look online at the seating chart and call to get your tickets, Talon will be VERY happy to see you all!

P.S. I know this is the week of Revival at our church, so plan on going to the Saturday afternoon production if you really want to go. Talon will have the full Narration part during that performance anyways.

ATTENTION Talon's Family: The Family Nite Production is on Wednesday, January 23rd from 6-8:00

Snow Much Fun

When we arrived in MI there was some snow still left on the ground, but on Friday night...it began to look like a Winter Wonderland! The kids had so much fun playing on the small hill in the front of Papa's yard, but had even more fun, when Uncle Stan hooked up the 4-Wheeler (they made a "snow-train" with three sleds)! They drove round and round and round Dad's property, then they headed towards the back of his 40 acres. On the back portion of his land, he has a "sugar shack" where he makes maple syrup in the spring. The shack is looking more and more like a shack, it is in need of repair, BADLY! With that being said, my great-niece Maddy was delighted when they reached the 3-sided shack and announced "we are in Bethlehem, look at the manger"! I thought that was sooo precious! When they returned back from "Bethlehem" the little ones were getting cold, so inside they came ready for Aunt Mary's hot cocoa! Thanks Uncle Stan, Papa, Tim & Daddy for making these fun memories for the kids!

The "Snow-Train"!
Back sled: Papa, Kallee, CJ & Maddy Mae
Middle sled: Tim & Keegan
Front sled: Talon
4-Wheeler: Daddy & Uncle Stan


Hi Guys!

Talon having "snow much fun", LOL!

Papa and "the girls"!

More pictures of the "Snow-Train"

New Year's Eve 2007

At the last minute, on our way home from MI, we decided to have some friends over for New Year's Eve. We had the Tony & Sara Derscheid family and the Dave & Lynette Cooper family over. We enjoyed pizza, lots of junk food, games and just good old fellowship! It is so nice to have friends that you can have over and know you will have a great time and that your kids will get along too! Thanks so much for spending your New Year's Eve with us guys, we had a lot of fun!

P.S. We do have more friends than them that we get along with, so I don't want to leave anyone thinking your not our friends since you didn't get an invite, HA!

LtoR: Kailey, Britnee, Janae, Keegan, Kallee, Kerri & Talon --Counting down to the New Year! It was a tradition of my family to go out and bang as loud as you could; on pots and pans and anything else that would make noise (when the clock chimed 12:00 on New Year's Eve), so...I have made that a tradition in our home as well. My kids know that they are aloud to go grab the noise makers, the instruments and the pots and pans on this night, because at mid-night they get to make tons of noise as they yell "Happy New Year"!!! I believe it was a tradition of Jerry's family to shoot off a round, so that is something he still does to this day--one good shot says Happy New Year from him : )

Keegan & Kerri winding down for the night and watching a movie!

Talon, Kallee, Britnee & Kailey playing Battleship

Christmas with The Coopers

Our final Christmas was celebrated on the 1st of January! We had 13 at our house for dinner, which included; ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, salad, corn, carrot casserole, rolls and Grandma's yummy Texas sheet-cake! We had lots of fun opening presents and playing games! We made the kids open their gifts one at a time, so this is how it went; Kallee was 1st, Keegan was 2nd, Lane was 3rd, Talon was 4th and poor Courtney was last : ( They all got lots of nice things, so they were thankful for that.! I must confess, I only have a few pictures to share, all my dumb batteries were dead. I did take some pictures with the "good old fashion film camera", but don't have them developed yet. We had a wonderful day and made lots of memories with The Cooper side!

LtoR: Lane (Elizabeth's son), Elizabeth,

Tony (Elizabeth's better 1/2 : ),

Talon, Grandma Hysel, Jerry & Grandpa Hysel.
Mamaw & Papaw at the left!
Keegan opening his "Lighting McQueen" shoes Mawmaw bought him!

Talon opening his "Nancy Drew" game Aunt Elizabeth bought him!

Kallee with Aunt "Biz-bus" and her doll Kasey! Aunt Elizabeth made Kallee & Kasey matching Raggedy Ann pjs, a Strawberry Shortcake changing pad and diaper bag!

Christmas with The Shattuck's

We headed to MI on the 27th of December and had a great time! We celebrated Christmas on the 29th, with almost everyone on my side of the family. My brother in his family were the only ones out of 37 of us that did not come, so we had a very nice crowd. My niece Kay rented "her" church hall, so we had lots and lots of room for all of us to roam, THANKS SO MUCH KAY!!! After eating a wonderful meal; ham, turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, green and baked beans, corn, rolls, 3 kinds of fruit salad and a ton of desserts, we all waddled to the "gift room" and opened presents : ) Since we only have a gift exchange for the kids 10 and under, there were 14 little ones patiently waiting to get their gifts. We had them all gather in a large circle and the "handing out the gift process" began. All their little eyes were a twinklin' when we would hand them another gift. Of course none of them went without, we all took home more than what we brought. After the little ones were finished, they enjoying playing with their new toys and jumping in the huge "blow up" castle my nephew brought. They played in that thing for hours and had so much fun, THANKS for bringing that Joe, it was a great hit! With having 12 kids under the age of 5, we did have a few little "spells", but all in all, they did great! --When the little ones were off playing, it was time for us ladies and the men to have our time for the "pass around/steal" game". Everyone over 10 can participate in this game if they wish, but if they wish to be a scrooge and not play, that if fine too, LOL! This is always fun, you draw numbers, and then in order by #, each person picks a gift from the pile to open. They have the option to open and new gift from the pile, or "steal" a gift that has been opened (you can only steal the same gift twice). This year we had gift cards from; McD's, Starbucks, Wendy's, Subway and Burger King, we had lotion, bath gel, lip gloss, a scarf and glove set, Christmas towels, scrapbook items and Bath & Body items. It was fun for all of us ladies and the men had fun "stealing" tools, a Colts clock, car items and a sports game. We all had a great time and made lots of memories!

The little ones waiting for their gifts!

LtoR: Kallee, Keegan, Javin & Jared (my niece Crystal's boys)

Keegan opening the "roller" shoes he has been asking for. Papa & Nana bought them for him!

My great nephew and niece, Colton (Kay's oldest) & Maddy (Tim's daughter).

Kallee got a Christmas Dora doll!

Talon got a complete outfit from Papa & Nana; pants, shirts, socks and a hat!

Keegan trying out his new Spider-Man web thrower!

My niece CJ enjoying the yummy food!

Me, Kallee & my sister Mary

Everyone enjoying the grub : )

Happy New Year

Just wanted to stop in a say Happy 2008 to everyone! May God bless you during this new year! I will post pictures of our final two Christmas' later this week.