March News

We moved grandma's hutch into the living room/dining area last week and I put V's dishes into it.  Mark painted it red for me a long time ago but we just painted the inside white again to help make the inside pop.  And we did all that because:

I love this new (old) hutch that Flea Market to Fabulous made beautiful again.  All the blue willow went into it and we're filling up the storage in the bottom :)

My sweet friends know how much we rely on bacon these days and they think of me when they run across bacon dishtowels. I love dishtowels anyway and then they're bacon dishtowels, even better!

This little daffodil is determined!  We have to make sure he gets planted properly this year.

Kyle and Judson playing chess.  Mark was so happy that Kyle is interested in chess that he bought a new set to have here at the house too. 

It's so good to have the kids nearby now. 

Betsy's drawing of her mom coming home from Target :)

Some Days I Feel I Have Wings

A Mary Oliver poem I found a while back that spoke to me.   I'm 60 now and even a little more.  This is a very nice birthday and I'm soooo thankful for so many blessings.

 Mama's card made me laugh out loud!  It's perfect :)

Keto at The Apple Barn :)

Rachel and Judson and the kids came over last night for a pre-birthday celebration.  Mark grilled hamburgers, we had green beans, salad, deviled eggs, bacon-wrapped asparagus.  Now that's a plate full!

Love the little house vase and daffodils they brought!  Rachel piped the cupcakes for me. V's tablecloth looks so pretty--her mother, Mark's grandmother, embroidered it. 

February Update!

We're still going keto strong.  It seems a bit obvious to keep saying it I guess, because it's just how we live now.  But still, sometimes it still seems too good to be true

 

Our Betsy Girl turned 10! And for her birthday, she got a cute little streak of pink underneath all that beautiful hair.  And Kyle turned 8.  The tooth fairy paid a visit for his birthday too :) 

And V is 80!  As I'm writing this, I just realized Kyle turned 8 and V turned 80!  He and Betsy made her homemade cards, the best kind.

 Yes, I got her a "real" cake, the kind my kitchen hasn't seen in a couple of years.  But don't worry, we also had keto cake and ice cream, so Mark and I had plenty of dessert to celebrate with everybody. 

We had fun being all together for V's birthday.  This is probably the very first time that the kids have been here for V's birthday.  It's wonderful having them so close by now.

She looks happy, doesn't she?  And she doesn't look 80!

Happy New Year!

 It was such a great Thanksgiving/Christmas season this year!  Isaac was home with us and we got to hang out and be together in a way we haven't in years.  Judson and Rachel have moved back to Springfield and it's such a blessing to have them so near again. 

 Kyle will soon be taller than V.  Betsy will be taller than me any day now.

 All of us together. 

Isaac has left on his 2018 adventure, heading towards Denver, Cali, and Arizona.  He'll soon be in warm weather again.  And here's our Judson and the kids.  Rachel does such a good job of taking their pictures and sending them out.  Happy happy New Year to everyone.

G Dog

We had to say goodbye to our G dog a couple of weeks ago. He was the best golden ever.  I have loved every single golden we've had--five now, and he was our only male dog.  He was so scared and skittish when we got him, but we always called him our big strong brave boy.  He was a great dog and I'm going to miss him in the garden.

We were so sad when we lost our first goldens--Sandy and Kelly--and we thought we were rescuing Lilla and G dog, but they really rescued us.

One of my favorites.

This one always makes me laugh.

We couldn't keep a collar on Lilla when they first came to us.  He thought it was great fun to get it away from her.

We'll miss him something awful, but so grateful to have had him with us for these years.  And thankful we have our Skye girl now.

Kyle with Skye

Happy Thanksgiving!

No, this pic above wasn't from yesterday, but doesn't it look like a Thanksgiving picture?!?  This was from October when we met all our peeps at Patti's.  I loved having everybody there together--my Michigan family, my Madisonville family, both my sons, my beautiful daughter in law and my amazing grandchildren.  I do feel so truly blessed to have had that chance for us to all be together.

So yesterday was a bit of a smaller celebration, but we're still beyond blessed and it was a great day.

Mark got up before sunrise to start the smoker.  We agreed this was the best bird ever!

We had a lovely keto meal--turkey, cauli-mash, green beans, deviled eggs, pumpkin "pie", chocolate pecan pie keto-style.  I have thought over and over to myself, I am so thankful we're not worried about fat pants or diabetes anymore.

We missed Judson and his family yesterday.  They're in the process of moving and Kyle was sick :/  So we'll have another Thanksgiving celebration next week.  Mark is thinking ribs for the smoker for that one!  I'm loving that smoker. . .

It's been wonderful having Isaac home lately.  Skye is pretty happy about him being here too :)

October Visit

 Betsy & Kyle came to see us and we had a wonderful time.  Betsy liked my bubblegum bliss keto ice cream. 

 V was on the hunt for a bingo game and she found a really nice one at Goodwill.  Betsy & Kyle always like playing board games at V's.  They seemed to really like being the one to spin the ball and announce the letters--B7, etc. . .

 They got to have real ice cream at V's too :)

Betsy is taller than V now, almost as tall as me.  Kyle is close behind.  We're loving watching them grow up.  We are beyond blessed.

Fall Report

 Mark & I meet good friends for breakfast on most Saturday mornings over at Boone's.  We took advantage of the beautiful weather on this date and ate on the patio.  Mark's been busy buying keto t-shirts :)

 Morning pages on the back porch.  It's too cold and too dark already to write out there these days.  I can't wait til spring :)

Tabitha took our pictures.

Mark's been working out!

We had such a good time at the lake this year.  It made me so happy to have everybody with us.  Isaac, PJ & Jeff, mama, me, Judson, Mark, Chuck, Kyle, Laura, Rachel, and our Betsy.  Now that was a family dinner :)

More later :)

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My Sweet Friend Tami

 Our little fundraising team with Tami:  Mary, myself, Vickie, Tami, Dan, Dana, Roni.  It was an emotional day seeing so many people turn out for Tami.  She is loved.

 The silent auction was huge!

Our friend Dave K played with his music friends.  Dave was a social worker with us in the McFarland days but he's always been a musician at heart. 

  Doesn't her mom look great?   

 The old CP gang!  Tom, Mark, Sue & Mark visited and laughed together.  It was so good to see them!

 And Edward.  Our friend Edward traveled all the way from St Louis to be with us.  How long has it been? 

And this little shot was taken in Tami's backyard a few weeks ago.  I'm so thankful that she's in remission and we are in this life together.