Latest News

By the blog title...what did you think? No, we're not expecting...whew!!!....and no more grandchildren are on the way. Another "whew"!! I just thought it's time to get you up to date on what's happening in our lives lately...and share a picture (or 2 or 3) of the new addition to our house.

Meet Chloe

To make a very LONG story short, we haven't had any cats since Joel and April got married. Since they lived with us for a month or so while we worked on their house after they got married (and she is allergic to cats), so I got rid of the 2 I had then. After that we had Dutchess, a sheltie, for several years. After John Mark took her, (when her barking annoyed my invalid Mother), I declared that I would never again have a pet in my house. I was enjoying being able to keep a relatively clean house. Well.....one day about 2 weeks ago, I came home to find a note on the dining room table instructing me to look in the downstairs bathroom, and if I didn't like her, we'd find another home for her. John had been working at one of our tenant's houses, helping her move out. She had acquired a large number of cats (much to our dismay), and due to various circumstances, we had asked her to leave. She had already gotten rid of several of the cats, but the place she found wouldn't let her bring any, so we were finding homes for the ones she had left. One of them won her way into John's heart....the one we had named Chloe. John knows I have a very soft spot for kitties...and of course, I fell in love with her, too. So.....!!!


The girls love her, and she is relaxed around them (for the most part). Jayna is so good with her; Kaylee, we'll have to work on! She has to learn how to properly hold a kitten.

AND........ SO MUCH FOR A CLEAN HOUSE!!!




CAMP CLEAN-UP DAYS
Friday and Saturday were camp clean-up days at Roxbury. Our church's annual regional conference was Saturday, so on Friday we went to camp to clean up around our cabin, etc. We asked Joel and April if we could take Jayna along, and they decided she could go on a "field trip" with us. We had a great day, complete with GORGEOUS weather! We took Jayna's bicycle along, so she enjoyed riding over the campground, then would check back from time to time.


Our back "yard" overlooks the creek, so we set up the picnic table, then John and Jayna built a fire pit. Now we're looking forward to roasting hot dogs and marshmallows.

Our good friend, Bill Baublitz, came to help rake leaves. They got the back yard raked and ready for the picnic table and fire pit.

Jayna on one of her breaks.

Carrying rocks for the fire pit.

Finished job!

Ready for the fire! Bring on the hot dogs and marshmallows.

Raking leaves for the truck to pick up.
Nifty way of cleaning up the leaves.

Jayna wanted to take some pictures of the things that were important to her. The following are the ones she took.

Wonderful Vacation

We're back home from a WONDERFUL week with our Tennessee family. The time went MUCH too fast, but we had a lot of fun-filled days....thought I'd share a few pictures from our time together.

We played many games -- Stress and Greed, Rack-O, Chicken Scratch

The children were always begging Grandpa for stories, real life stories from his childhood days. They were so intrigued, and would sit a long time listening to what he had to say.

I took several candid pictures, then they decided to pose for one. Just as I pressed the button, a fly flew right in front of my camera just as the flash went off. That's the white spot in the left upper corner. Couldn't have accomplished that if I had tried.

Baby Samuel was such a sweetheart! He loves his bouncy swing, and Ethan just could hardly keep from swinging him when he'd walk by.

Another picture of the smiling, happy Samuel. He's such a good baby, and won Grandma's heart!!One morning we went to Sunrise Bakery for doughnuts. The following 4 pictures were taken there.

Missy girl!! Such a sweetheart!
Darren and Samuel. Darren loves his brother and takes such good care of him.

Ethan -- what is he going to do next!!!??? He's 100%+ boy!!

Samuel was such a good traveller!! He'd just go right off to sleep and was so happy when he got awake.

We always visit a wonderful Chinese restaurant (Lucky Bamboo) when we go to Joy's. It has a spendid buffet and the MOST WONDERFUL sweet cream cheese wontons. That is the only place I have ever tasted the sweet version, and they are "to die for." NO KIDDING!!

We also visited the home of President James Polk. The following are pictures taken there.

On our way home we visited a sweet couple -- Everett and Sarah Witherow. When they were physically able, they attended Wes and Joy's church. They are a very special couple! One day Wes's brother Tim took Darren fishing. Here is their catch!Oh, did you say I can't eat them raw?? Watch me!Farmer Wes and his new Case tractorOld McDonald's farm has increased by 2 --- pigs, that is!

There are many more pictures I could share, but they would probably bore the most of you. So I'll let these be sufficient. We had such a great time, and made many wonderful memories. Thanks, Wes, Joy, Darren, Missy, Ethan and Samuel for making our time together so very special. We love you more than we could ever tell you. Now we'll start counting the days until our vacation together in the Smokey Mountains....May 20!!

This and That

This blog contains a conglomeration of pictures; a sort of collage, if you please. The first 2 are of our weeping pussy willow tree. When we re-landscaped last summer I saw this advertised in a nursery catalog and thought it would be unique. It has proved to be our first sign of spring!!

I think it is unique and pretty in it's own way.

On Thursday, March 5, I went to Lancaster to spend the day with two friends. On the left is Darlene (Replogle) Byler, married to Wilbur Byler, founder of Missions Help Ministry. On the right is her sister Debbie (Replogle) Hollinger, wife of David Hollinger, Founder and Chairman of Four Seasons Produce, Inc. She was my maid of honor many years ago when John and I married in 1970. I haven't seen her in many years and it was great to spend the afternoon with these lovely ladies. Debbie is the Founder/Director of a non-profit foundation, HOME (Hearts of Mercy Extended) International, which sponsors homes for orphaned girls in India. To help support HOME, she opened the Second Street Thrift Store. For more information on their vision and mission, visit her website http://www.homeinternational.org/. After we had lunch, we visited the thrift shop, then went to Debbie's house to chat and get caught up on what's happened in our lives since we were last together. It was a most enjoyable day, one I will cherish for a long time!!


This is a picture of Jayna one day after school. She loves to stop in on her way home and spend some time with Grandma and Grandpa before going home for supper. Of course, we LOVE it too, since she isn't here much anymore now that she's in school all day. She's growing up so quickly and doing very well in school. We are so proud of her!

We don't get the chance to see our oldest son, John Mark, very often, so he emailed a couple of pictures. We hope to go to Georgia to see them the end of May.
John Mark and Cristal

We have a couple in our church who have been married for 21+ years and never had children. Almost a year ago she began having some phyical problems and started doctoring. When she didn't improve, the doctor ordered an ultrasound to see what was going on. To make a long story short, they discovered she was 13 weeks pregnant. She was due November 23, but developed gestational diabetes and a severe case of toxemia, and delivered a beautiful, healthy baby boy on October 17 -- Jared Royce, our miracle baby! He is such a blessing to his parents and to our congregational family. Occasionally, since his grandparents live a distance away, I play "grandma" and babysit him when they come to town for a shopping trip.

Here's our sweet miracle baby!

Not too much else is happening in our lives these days. I'm anxiously waiting to begin working outside in my yard and flower beds, cleaning the porches and siding, and getting my porch furniture back out of storage. The last week of March we have a trip to Tennessee planned -- to see our daughter, son-in-law and family. :-) That's the next exciting thing on our schedule, so I'll probably not blog again until we return.

Fun at Grandpa and Grandma's House

The girls love to ride on Grandpa's shoulders -- one at a time, please!!Jayna with some of her dolls.
After school today.
She loves to come to Grandma's after school, even when Mommy isn't working.

Playing dress-up.

Kaylee intent on watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse....again!!

Don't tell me....!

Both the girls love for Grandpa to read to them.