THANKSGIVING 07

For all of you who have been waiting to see Devin and Paige ... here they are! More photos at the end of the blog ... but I wanted to walk you through our Thanksgiving. Beautiful tree in our backyard Thanksgiving week. Notice the frost on the ground in the picture. Amber Howard and I started Thanksgiving preparations by her teaching me how to make corn bread dressing. It was awesome! You're a great teacher Amber! (and wonderful friend) This girl knows her stuff (and stuffing!!). Thanks for those extra pounds I'm carrying around now!! This is our adorable Jack sitting on Paige's lap. He liked her right away! Pretty hair Paige!! Jack loves to point at people and pictures ALL THE TIME! He will find every picture of Devin and Bob in my office or at home or at anyone else's home and carry them around or kiss them! See what I mean!! He's a cuddle bunny!! He ran to Devin as soon as he saw him. Jack never skipped a beat!You can't see it, but there was water dripping from the roof and Jack was putting his hands in it and laughing. Look closely and you'll see Devin and Paige when they were 3 & 4 years old. Paige has her hands clasped together - which she still does to this day! The adult Devin and Paige were watching the young Devin and Paige sing! Isn't that unbelievable!!!!Our beautiful Tom turkey ... Devin can't wait to sink his teeth into him and Paige is her adorable self! See my new roasting pan Mother? It was GREAT! Here's our Thanksgiving crowd. The Jensen's on the left, Larry, Cindy and Natalie, Bob at the end, then Jeff McReynolds, Paige Jennings and Devin. GREAT FOOD and FRIENDS!!!We learned a new card game called "Quiddler". Lots of fun. Devin holding Charlie. It was so sad when Devin left for school and told Charlie ... "Please still be here when I come home for Thanksgiving!" My Grandmother was all about the wish bone thing! And so she taught us this tradition ...Two people would hold each side of the wish bone and make a wish. Then you pull till it brakes and the person with the longest end gets their wish.Apparently our bone was a little "fresh" and didn't want to break right away.Guess you can see who got the long end and who's sad!
Sweet.

INDIANA WESLEYAN NOV 07

I had a Campus Challenge Meeting in Indianapolis. I had told all the kids I was coming and these two (Jeffrey Jensen and Laura Kennedy) were the only ones who didn't have a conflict and came to the airport and then out to eat. They drove an hour and a half just to spend a little time together. Isn't that amazing? We had a great time - eating and catching up! I love these kids! They have blessed my life immeasurably! Hugs and kisses guys. For those who this makes any sense to, if you look past my head, the guy on the other side of the glass looked like Sucre from Prison Break!
Things changed fast and I extended my stay and ran up to IWU to see my darling baby! And look what I found?? A 12 ft. Christmas tree the guys had decorated in the lobby of their dorm, lights strung up all over the place and this beautiful boy in front of the tree! What a gift!!! He was quite excited I changed my plans. I think he missed me. :-) He didn't have allot planned and so we were able to go out to dinner, enjoy coffee at the McConn, sing around the piano in the music building and have breakfast together the next day before I left! A great treat for me! Zeldrick Martin, Devin's good friend and roomate, Abby Jones, me and Devin. Zeldrick had a date and couldn't hang out for long, but Abby never left my side all night. We had the most wonderful time! Zeldrick smiles all the time and still calls me Mommy. Abby is doing great and is just the most adorable person!

PENNSYLVANIA TRIP O7

We made a trip to Pennsylvania to see Bob's parents. This was the beautiful color we saw in Sunbury.

This is the steeple of the church that Bob took organ lessons on when he was a little boy.You can't tell - but it was FREEZING taking this picture! Bob offered to help his Dad cover their air conditioners. WINTERIZING!!! "Now I don't need to be bossy Bobby, but you have to do it this way"!!
Aren't they cute!! This is cousin Cheri. She made us lunch one day. Beef and noodles. YUMMY! Since Bob doesn't have siblings, (despite what he may have told many of you through the years) his cousins are like his sisters and brothers. We love them. And you would love them all! And I'm sure we'll have repercussions from only Cheri being in the picture! Sorry other cousins! Believe it or not, Bob's parents still have a coal furnace. This is the almost empty coal bin. They were waiting for several days for the truck to arrive to replenish.
And alas it came! They put this shoot down into a basement window and let the coal go! They ordered 4 tons!!Coal bin is now full. See at the bottom of the bin? That's where Bob's Dad shovels the coal out and puts it in the furnace.Here's the furnace all fired up! Imagine having to shovel, rake, stoke the fire all through the day! Ties you down!Here's the Kerstetters. They are so sweet and his Dad didn't expect this kiss of course. We actually went to celebrate Dad Kerstetter's 77th birthday. The Pennsylvania Kerstetters!!We had to make sure the million dollar grandson made it in the picture!