Thankful for neighbors that help out!

Today I would like to say how thankful I am for my neighbors! One of them took me to work because I couldn't get our truck or car out of our driveway! That was awesome! Then while I was at work another neighbor came over with his tractor and plowed our road and driveway!! What a blessing that was! It was so nice to come home from work and not be afraid of getting stuck. I really appreciated both of these men and pray God's blessing on them for their gift of their time and effort to help!

Baby Jesus in swaddling clothes!

When I posted snow pictures last time, I got a comment from one of my facebook people that I needed to put more swaddling clothes

on baby Jesus as He was freezing!! Well, I took that to heart and

fixed the problem. Baby Jesus is now a lot warmer with the lights all around him!!!

Family Christmas Pictures

Here are the kids Christmas pictures, so far.

Angela and Tory Gustin

Blake (8) Riley (5)

Jason, Christina,

Kansas (5)

Ysabella (2)

Must have been tough doing your Chrsitmas photo on the beach in Florida Jason!!!

Don't have updated ones from Jeremy yet!!

I love you guys!

Lot's of snow! It's so beautiful!

Snow on December 20th!

Trying to get out onto Bethel is a real bear!

Front of our house

Where is baby Jesus?

Back yard
Holly is so pretty with snow!

Keeping the birds happy!

After I came in from taking these pictures, it started snowing again. It is supposed to snow off and on for the next few days. Would sure be nice to have a white Chritmas. The only problem with that is that we are going to Angela's for Christmas day. That might make it a bit difficult. Will have to see what happens.

This is so unusual for us to get this kind of snow. I was thinking how it is so weird to see compact snow on the road. Our snow here is usually gone the next day before the sun comes up. So, today I will enjoy every moment that we have. I pray for everyone's safety as they drive and that everyone will be able to get where they need to go.

More Snow!!

Snow has come to Port Orchard! It is a winter wonderland!! A lot of people don't like the snow, but I love it, in case you haven't noticed that! When the kids were little they used to get so mad at their dad because he would always pray it away. He had to show up for work because he ran the computers at the grocery store and would always say that he had to be there no matter what. The kids and I would always pray for snow, but I guess his safety had a higher priority! Now that Larry works for the shipyard, he doesn't pray it away anymore!!!!

The roads were very icy and compact snow on most the side roads, but not a hard commute this morning. They made the shipyard a 2 hour delay, which was nice. I am thankful for a safe drive in to work. It will be nice to be home during Christmas this year as my new job closes down. I have much to do to keep me busy!!

The Suitcase We Pack!!!

Life is so precious and after talking with a number of people with some really tough family relationships, it has really made me think a lot about how important it is to leave a good legacy to pass down to the next generation. What we say and what we do really does matter! How we treat our kids and family members young or old can effect them all their lives. It is so sad to see an adult have to go through counseling to try to unravel a ball of tangled threads of hurts and bad experiences. Sometimes we do cause our own problems, but sometimes it's no fault of our own. Sometimes other people get in the game and make it even worse. Life is so complicated!
We each pack a suitcase in our lives..........

In this suitcase we can put all our happy memories and carry them with us. Trouble is that sometimes we pack all our hard feelings toward people in there and we carry that and weight down our suitcase unnecessarily. I am reminded that in the Bible it tells us to get along with each other as much as possible. God understands that we may not always get it right and that sometimes we may not always get along with everyone. The thing that is most important is to be forgiving. We can't change the past, as much as we would like to, but we can choose to put things in the past and learn from them and get help from good council or friends and most importantly, talk to God about it. God is the one who untangles the messes. God will help heal wounds that have caused us pain or forgive us for things that we have brought on to others or ourselves.

It's a good thing to throw out things from that suitcase that weight us down. Get rid of the junk! It's amazing how much better things will go if we will throw out the bitter feelings, failures, and all the other stuff that we just can't do anything about. Carry a suitcase full of love and joy and you will see that it's a lot easier to get along with people and the legacy that you pass down will be remembered for the good you have brought to the people in your life.

What will they say about you when you are gone, will they say that you were the most loving person or will they say that you were a person that carried bitterness and ill towards others.

I want to be remembered for being a loving person.
"God give me that gift of love that I will be a reflection of your love, and may I be careful of what I say and do because someone is always watching and listening. Let me remember that what seed I plant will grow more of the same, let it be good seeds that I plant." amen

Grandchild of the Month!!!

This is our grandson Blake Gustin. He's 8 years old and lives in Rochester Washington and he loves his grandma and grandpa. Angela told him that we were going to send him money for him to spend for Christmas and she wanted to know if he wanted to do that or have her buy him something and mark it from Grandpa and Grandma. He told her that he didn't want to take our money and that all he wanted from us was to have us come over and spend time with him. AAAAAAAAAAhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

She said that he had tears in his eyes when he was saying that. She called me to tell me about what he said. She told him that I was on the phone so he wanted to talk to me. I told him how sweet that was and he asked me if I wanted him to repeat it to me! How funny was that! So, he had to tell me what he said. He was so sweet!!

For many years after our kids left home we had this joke that if they called us they would make points to be the child of the month and we would put their picture in the middle over the fireplace! Since Blake said this sweet thing, I told her that Blake was the Grandkid of the month!

New tradition! She forgot to tell me something and called me back, that makes her CHILD OF THE MONTH.... two calls in one day! Actually I have talked to her 4 times today. I love it!
Then again, Jason did fly all the way from Florida and spent 2 weeks here!! It might just out do all the other votes for Child of the Month!
Good times!!!

To pluck or Not to pluck!

A few days ago I got a call from my daughter, Angela, and she was all excited about something that happened.

She found her first gray hair!!!

She didn't know what to do, if she should pluck it out or not.

She thought of all the things she has heard about plucking gray hairs,

that it would make gray hairs come in faster.

Like opening the flood gates to a rash of gray hair.

She thought about it for a while and decided to pluck it.

It was bothering her to see it there.

We got carried away with our scenarios of what to do and what the outcome would be. This is what we do....we come up with the craziest thoughts and before you know it we are laughing like crazy over the stupidest things!!! Good times!

Christmas 2008 Families

Here are some Christmas pictures that I have gotten from Jason and Christina and Angela and Tory!!! Jason in Florida and Angela in Washington! Beautiful family pictures, and look at those beautiful grandkids!!!!

I love the snow!!

It's more than just pretty white stuff that covers the ground. It's the fact that winter time is dirty and colorless, but when the snow falls it covers it all and it makes everything bright and clean. It reminds me of our lives when sin makes our lives look dirty and we loose the color of life in our face. Jesus promises to wash our sins away and make our heart whiter than the snow. How is that possible? It's only because he came as a baby in a manger to live among us and be human so that he could die for our sins and defeat death by rising and returning to His Father in Heaven and prepare a place for us to be with Him. How is it that children find it so easy to believe in Jesus, Santa, Easter bunny, the tooth fairy without any proof of any existence, but as adults we have to see it to believe it! There is proof all around us that God does exist. What if... what if you live your life as if none of it is real and then you die and discover, too late that it was all true? How sad. Jesus said that He came that we might have life, and have it more abundantly. I believe that to live knowing His love and forgiveness is how a person can have joy in the middle of difficult times. Facing crisis and pain, loss of loved ones and all the other pains of life is hard, but having Jesus means that we have His Holy Spirit to comfort us and to give us strength. We grow from difficult times and we are able to encourage others that face difficult times as well.
I look back at difficult things in my life and my bad choices and all I can say is that I am so thankful that God's love and his mercy doesn't run out. I know there have been times in my life that I felt like there was no more grace and that I had failed too many times, but I have come to realize that God's words are true and He does not lie. I have listened to the father of lies, satan way too many times in my life and I just want to remind myself today that he is a lire and the things that I hear in my ear of no hope and I am not forgiven and all those kinds of words are NOT of God and I choose to reject them and stand firm on God's promises in His Word.
So as I look out my window and see the beautiful white snow, it brings joy to my heart. It has reminded me of God's cleansing power and I give Him praise for this awesome reminder today.

Third Generation Dress

This is my grand daughter, Ysabella London Reed

She is wearing a dress that I wore as a little girl.
My daughter, Angela wore it and now for the
third generation, it has been passed down.

I look forward to putting together a large picture frame
with the dress and pictures of all three of us wearing the dress.
How cool would that be!!!!!

Good Friends, Good Times!!

Today was a very fun day at work. All the secretaries of our area got together for a brunch this morning and we had a ornament exchange. It was good fun and good food. I like how they do this so that we can all get together for some social time.

After that Samantha and I left to go back to our old job place for their Christmas lunch. This is NOT how it looked, they had to decorate without Samantha and I on the recreation committee. I have to say that it was a bit weird to see how boring it looked, but they did at least have table covers on the tables. The tree just had lights only on it!! The food was good. It was so fun to see everyone again. It has been 3 months since I have been gone from there and so it was good to see old friends.

The rest of the day went by so fast. Didn't get a whole lot of work done, but it was good. I really am very thankful for where I am working now. I really love the people that I am working with and this really made me realize even more how blessed I really am to have been given the opportunity for this job. The one thing that I do miss from my old Friends is this; there are a lot of people there that I knew if I was going through anything tough,they were there to pray for me. They are still there and I can still call on them, but I do miss that connection.

Christmas Music

It's that time of year that radio stations play nothing but Christmas music. I have to say that I really love Christmas music and for the most part I don't mind all the Christmas music, but after a while it gets to the point where I wish they would play some regular music as well. I end up turning off my radio a lot more as it gets closer to Christmas and play my CD's. Is it just me, or does anyone else agree with this. Just a random thought on this Tuesday!

The Nutcracker for the 1st time

Seattle Nutcracker

For the first time in my life I saw the Nutcracker. I have never read the story or watched it at all so it was seeing it for the first time. I have to say that I am not really a fan of the story! I had a hard time staying awake!!! It was beautiful and well done, but I found it to be very boring!

I really love productions and all the sets and costumes but this one was not my favorite.

It was a good time with friends of ours and the dinner at the cheesecake Factory was tops!!

So, now I can say that I have seen the Nutcracker and I think that it may not be top on my list of things to do again.

Jason and family visits from Florida

Jason and Christina

The girls and grandma!

The Christmas carol band!!!

Family shot!

What is not showing is the whoopee cushion that the girls

and Jason tried to get Christina to sit on, using the plot

that we would take a family photo!!!

The girls having fun with gramma's purses and jewelry!

We had a great time together. We put up the Christmas trees and the Christina and the girls made Christmas cookies, we listened to Christmas music and added our own music effects....

Jason told the girls a story with a puppet.

Happy Thanksgiving

I am so thankful today for my husband, children and my grand kids! They are the light of my life. I am thankful that God sent His Son Jesus to pay the price for my sins. I am thankful for God's grace, that no matter how I struggle with things in life, He is faithful to love me and forgive. I want nothing more in life than to be faithful to Him and that others will know the peace that comes from giving their lives to Him. He wants so much more for us and I know that I should be more faithful than I am. I want to be a reflection of HIS love.

Happy Friday! I am really looking forward to 4 days off!!! I have so much that I need to get done! Two day weekends just don't cut it sometimes! I am taking an extra day off with the holiday! Work just gets in the way of our real life sometimes!! But then again, if we didn't have our jobs then our real life wouldn't be as fun!!!! It's all about perspective!!

Moving Already!!!

Anyone that knows me, knows that I love to rearrange at home and at work. I don't like things staying the same all the time. I have been at my new job almost 2 months and today I moved to a new spot! They had a place made just for me outside my bosses office. It's great except it's a bit lonely! I miss the people I was around. This place is so boring with no one to talk to. I come and go a lot, so it's all good, but i do miss the interaction with others while you are working. Sam took my old desk so she was happy to get a desk with a computer instead of moving from desk to desk with her box of stuff. We are still in the same office until she gets her clearance completed. I am loving that and will enjoy that while I can.

Job opportunities!

Wow, I have been at my new job for 7, almost 8 weeks and last Friday I had an interview for another promotion! I think he already has someone else picked for the position, but it was good that I was able to get an interview. I will see what happens. It would be hard to leave the great group of people that I am with, but you have to do what you need to do! A good friend of mine told me about the job and she said that it is a really great group of people there and she put in a very good word for me and the secretary really wants me to get the position. I will have to see what happens.
Larry also has an opportunity for a new position as well!!! I would love to see him get this spot! It would be easier on his body as the job he has now is really tough!

My precious Riley

Friday night my little 5 year old grandson Riley (who is diabetic) had a really horrible seizure. He stopped breathing and turned blue. They had to revive him. How frightning! They were able to give him the emergency shot of insulin and got him to the hospital. We went to see him on Sunday and we played and hugged a lot. I didn't want to let him go. He is such a love and is so funny. I am so thankful that God protected him and we didn't loose him. How sad that would be. I can't even begin to think about what it would be like with out him or what my daughter and family would go through loosing him. Angela and her husband Tory and really having a hard time dealing with the trauma. We just keep praying that God will bring healing to this precious little guy and that he will not have to have this disease any more.

So to all mothers out there... hug your children and thank God for every moment that you have with them even if they are all grown up...... you never know how long you have them.

Fall Camping Trip

Last weekend was so beautiful out and my brother and I went on a camp out with our little Teardrop Trailers! We went to Port Townsend. It was so beautiful with all the fall leaves. I will be posting pictures soon on this post later. We met a lady while we were registering for camping that has a 1946 Teardrop that her boyfriend of 11 years was restoring. He died suddenly of a heart attack before finishing it. What is is more sad is that his brother was working on it with him and he also died shortly after that. This lady wants to sell it to someone who will keep his dream alive.
We took lots of pictures and climbed all over in the bunkers. It is an old military base where we camped. Good times with my brother. LarBear was home with a hurt back. What a good wife I was, just leave him home in pain and go out and play!! (He was OK with it as long as he didn't have to go camping!)
We have now emptied out the trailer and put it in the garage for the winter so LarBear is safe now and knows that I won't be wanting to take it out during the winter!!!

My baby turns 30!!

Sunday was Angela's 30th birthday! Wow, it doesn't seem possible. Saturday her husband Tory pulled off a great surprise party at Hunter's Farm. It was a great place tucked into the corn maze. We even had a fire pit with a nice warm fire. It warmed my heart to see all these friends showing how much she is loved.

I decided that I would make 30 envelopes with 30 years of JOY that she has brought to our lives. I found a scrapbook calendar with all different events and colorful pages. I was able to put things for when she was small that was funny as well as special events like graduation, first boyfriend, wedding, pregnancy etc. It took her a while to open them all, but it was fun. Some of the things was just funny memories between her and I, but it was all things to say, YOU HAVE BROUGHT JOY TO OUR HEARTS. Of course there was confetti in most of them!

Angela was wondering why everyone was avoiding her calls. I knew that she would drill me with questions! I even left my phone in the car so she wouldn't be able to call me!! Now I can talk to her again!!! Yeah!!!!

I don't do the corn maze after being traumatized last year when we could not find our way out. It was frightening. We decided that we would have food, flashlights, horn, toilet paper and numerous other things with us if we ever would enter one again!!! Our list of things we would take got a little crazy!!