Christmas 2008

Here's a picture we took of the family this Christmas. As you can see we have added a new member to our family. Shane married Tasha on November 30 in San Antonio TX. We are so excited for them both and enjoyed spending the week with them.

What's Been Going On...........

Wow, it has been way too long since I have updated my blog. I think I may just try to update with pictures. So here it goes.........

Here is Miras on Halloween. His favorite thing to say as "King Miras" was "bow down to me" . I think he might have talked one single person to actually bow down! He had a great Halloween because he was able to trick or treat on 2 different nights. That meant LOTS of candy.

We even got Grandpa to be King for a while. I thought he looked like the King from the old Imperial Margarine commercials. Grandpa is a great sport!

Shane came for a surprise visit the weekend of my birthday. It was a great surprise and the kids had another"fun" session of taking the dreaded Christmas photo! Needless to say, we had to take a ton of pictures before we got a good one!

On November 22, Jeff's brother Adam married Heather and we are thrilled for them. They are both so happy and their wedding was beautiful. Here is Kelsey, Miras (in the back) Shane and me enjoying the wedding reception. We were excited that Shane could visit again for the wedding.

One other important thing to mention is Shane graduated from his Ranger Program. I don't have the pictures from that, but will be sure to post them as soon as I have them. He is now an Airborne Ranger Medic. He will be continuing his medic training starting in January.

Bonfire Fun

I love this picture!
A father, a son and a really big fire!
Life is good!

Halloween Fun

Kelsey and Miras decided to decorate for Halloween today, since their mom is too lazy to do it.

They had a great time together and mom is glad she didn't have to do it!

I did take a few pictures so here they are...............

Carving the pumpkin!

The finished Jack-o-latern

with a snake on top

Miras' favorite decoration

Kelsey's homemade wreath

Our Trip to Las Vegas

Jeff and I were able to travel to Las Vegas this past weekend. He had to be there for work this week, so we decided to go early. We were able to stay in the room that his company had for him and it was REALLY nice. Just down the hall was a workout area and we worked out everyday that we were there.

One of the highlights of the trip was getting to meet our new nephew Jake! What a sweet little baby boy. He is the happiest baby I've ever seen. Paige and Todd are pretty happy themselves! We enjoyed being able to visit with them each day we were there. Thanks Paige and Todd!

Jeff and I were also able to go to Hoover Dam. What a cool place. It was a gorgeous day and we loved learning about the Dam.

I returned home yesterday and I have to say, I am wishing I was still on my little vacation. I missed the kids, but it was just so relaxing that I didn't want to come home.

Oh well, back to reality!

We've Got the Power ! (Finally)

Last Sunday afternoon we got hit by Hurricane Ike! Yes, we live in Ohio and we still got hit by level one hurricane winds. It was pretty scary. We lost about 6 trees which created a huge mess, but, thankfully, no damage to our home. We also lost power and this became the biggest challenge from the storm. At first we weren't too worried as normally, the power is not off for very long. But as the hours went by and the reports came in saying we might be without power for a week or more, we decided we needed to come up with some plan for keeping our food unspoiled.
I took the ice that was in the freezer and dumped it in a cooler and loaded the cooler with as much food from the fridge as I could. Luckily, my mom's power came back on rather quickly, so I bagged up more food and took it to my mom's house to store. Our next problem was the deep freeze in the basement. My inlaws were also without power and were able to get their 35 year old generator to work, so we took turns keeping our freezers cold with that little old generator.
We really did pretty well throughout week. We used candles for light and I have decided that I would like to purchase a few oil lamps for the next time. We also need to buy a good sized generator to hook up to the house so we won't be scrambling the next time we lose power. It really was a learning experience for us, as to how we need to better prepare ourselves.

Shane's Home!

We had a great week last week. Shane was able to come home on leave for 10 days and we enjoyed having him here so much. His girlfriend Tasha was able to spend a few days with us also and it was so nice to finally meet her. She is a sweet young lady. We took a few pictures so here they are...........

Miras and Shane having fun on his first night home

Shane and Tasha before going out to Montgomery Inn

Shane and Tasha at Montgomery Inn for dinner

New Family Picture

Our beautiful kids

Jeff's New Toy

There is just something about men and motorcycles. I don't quite understand it, but most men seem to either already own a bike or dream of owning one. Well, I guess Jeff's dream has finally come true. He bought a 2004 Harley Davidson and has been having an awesome time riding it. One big surprise for me is that I am actually loving it too. It has been great fun to just take off and go for a ride. We have seen some incredibly beautiful places just in the short time we have been riding. One other person that is extremely excited about the bike is Miras. He LOVES to go riding with his Dad.

As if he needed another reason to think his Dad is cool!

Amazing Teenagers

The youth of this world are inundated by evil influences. So many immoral practices are made to appear harmless and acceptable. We are told we should learn to tolerate all kinds of things that really should not be tolerated at all. Our youth get so many mixed messages relating to the choices they should be making, it can be difficult for them to know what is right. Thankfully we have a way to know right from wrong. We have instructions for life given to us by God.

I am blessed to be able to teach a scripture study class for high school age youth. This class starts every weekday at 6:00 AM. Yes, that's right...... 6:00 AM. These youth come to our house everyday before school to study the scriptures. I am just amazed at the strength of these teens to strive to do what is right each and every day. It is quite a lot of work to prepare for these classes daily, but it is so worth it. They make the start of my day so much fun. To be honest, they teach me so much more than I teach them.

This year we will be studying the New Testament. I am excited to study Christ's life and to hopefully convey to my class how much Christ loves each of them. I want them to know without a doubt that they are cherished by our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. My hope, as they leave my class each day, is that they will go to school armored with the strength of God's love for them.

I Love These People!

Shane completed his first and second jumps for Airborne yesterday. I could hear the excitement in his voice when he called last night. He has always had a fear of heights and this was a great accomplishment for him to face his fear and come out on top. I am so proud of all that he has been able to accomplish so far in his military training. He has 2 jumps today and 1 tomorrow. The last jump will be in the dark with all his equipment strapped to him. Sounds scary to me, but he is confident that all will go well. I am so grateful to have a son who is willing to face his fears and sacrifice so much to protect our country.

Kelsey just returned from a trip to Nauvoo Illinois for EFY (a week long church youth conference). She flew all by herself and was able to navigate her way through the airport. She had a great time learning about the history of the church in Nauvoo and touring all the exhibits. She strengthened old friendships and made new ones. Basically she had an awesome time. I am grateful that she was able to attend EFY, but I am even more grateful to have her back home. I miss her upbeat energy and fun loving attitude when she is gone.

Miras has been a big help around the house lately. I am astounded at the things he is able to accomplish at the age of 10. He definitely isn't afraid of hard work and is always so willing to help. I am grateful to have such a willing and able little guy to spend my days with. He can always bring a smile to my face.

Freedom

This will be our 3rd year homeschooling Miras. I am very excited this year, because we will be studying American History. I have been gathering books all summer about American History. So far, I have biographies of Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson.
I have books about Paul Revere, Christopher Columbus and the Northern American Indians.

I have a pioneer craft book and a Native American craft book. I have timelines and maps and many other resources.

I want Miras to be excited about American History and to have a great love for this beautiful country that we live in. I am hoping that through our studies this year, he will gain an understanding of the sacrifices that have been made for our freedom.

I am grateful to live in this great nation of ours and I am grateful for the freedom that I have to homeschool if I choose to. We are all incredibly blessed.