This is a prayer said by Pastor Joe Wright in the Kansas Legislature in 1996 that led to much controversy.
Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask Your forgiveness and to seek Your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, "Woe to those who call evil good," but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values.
We confess:
We have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and called it Pluralism.
We have worshipped other gods and called it multiculturalism.
We have endorsed perversion and called it alternative lifestyle.
We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery.
We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.
We have killed our unborn and called it choice.
We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable.
We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem.
We have abused power and called it politics.
We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition.
We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression.
We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.
Search us, Oh God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and set us free.
Guide and bless these men and women who have been sent to direct us to the center of your will. I ask it in the Name of Your Son, the living Savior, Jesus Christ.
Amen.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Sunday, November 08, 2009
Whoo! SCORE!!! My trip to WAGS (Walgreens)!!
First of all, lets discuss Walgreens. Walgreens offers "Register Rewards". They give you, the customer, a coupon or "reward" to spend on whatever (with somethings limited) in the store. They also allow you to "triple stack". They accept Walgreens coupons (store coupons). Then they allow you to use a Manufacturer coupon WITH the Wags coupon. THEN (if you have them) they allow you to use your RR with that. Now let me warn you about something, you MUST have the same or more numbers of items that you do coupons. Now to make sure your RR prints, make sure that whatever you buy ALWAYS rings up "SALE" on the Register. Also you need to present your coupons in THIS order:
1. Walgreens/Store Coupons
2. Manufacturer
3. Register Rewards
I use Money Saving Mom for her breakdown of the best deals at Walgreens. Right now, Halloween candy is on 70% off clearance so I bought M&M's as a "filler". A GREAT thing about WAGS, is that you can "roll" your RR and coupons over and over. (instead of like CVS where you are limited). So although it says limit 1, you can do more in more than one transaction.
So one of my transactions were:
Gillette Deoderant $4
Gillette Body Wash $4
Herbal Esscences Shampoo $3.50
Herbal Esscences styler $3.50
Blistex 2.49
Fun Size M&M clearance .84
Vicks Dayquil (2) 4.50 each
Total 27.33
I used 1 Buy 1 Gillette deoderant, get 1body wash free coupon (4.00)
Used a coupon for $1.00 off of the deoderant
Cpn BOGO for Herbal Esscences and another for $1.50 off
Used 2 coupons for $1.50 each off of Vicks Dayquil
Paid 2.97 (after tax) OOP
Received $6.50 back in Register Rewards that I used towards my next purchases. See when you start shopping like this, you realize that you will NEVER EVER pay for anything Health and Beauty wise. This is why it is helpful to buy multiple newspapers (I buy 4) for coupons and plan your attack!!
I kept doing things like this over and over. I would reuse my RR's and "roll them over" into the next transaction. This is how I saved $170.68 and spent $19.92 OOP with $5 left in RR!!!!!!!
Good luck and let me know if you have any questions.
First of all, lets discuss Walgreens. Walgreens offers "Register Rewards". They give you, the customer, a coupon or "reward" to spend on whatever (with somethings limited) in the store. They also allow you to "triple stack". They accept Walgreens coupons (store coupons). Then they allow you to use a Manufacturer coupon WITH the Wags coupon. THEN (if you have them) they allow you to use your RR with that. Now let me warn you about something, you MUST have the same or more numbers of items that you do coupons. Now to make sure your RR prints, make sure that whatever you buy ALWAYS rings up "SALE" on the Register. Also you need to present your coupons in THIS order:
1. Walgreens/Store Coupons
2. Manufacturer
3. Register Rewards
I use Money Saving Mom for her breakdown of the best deals at Walgreens. Right now, Halloween candy is on 70% off clearance so I bought M&M's as a "filler". A GREAT thing about WAGS, is that you can "roll" your RR and coupons over and over. (instead of like CVS where you are limited). So although it says limit 1, you can do more in more than one transaction.
So one of my transactions were:
Gillette Deoderant $4
Gillette Body Wash $4
Herbal Esscences Shampoo $3.50
Herbal Esscences styler $3.50
Blistex 2.49
Fun Size M&M clearance .84
Vicks Dayquil (2) 4.50 each
Total 27.33
I used 1 Buy 1 Gillette deoderant, get 1body wash free coupon (4.00)
Used a coupon for $1.00 off of the deoderant
Cpn BOGO for Herbal Esscences and another for $1.50 off
Used 2 coupons for $1.50 each off of Vicks Dayquil
Paid 2.97 (after tax) OOP
Received $6.50 back in Register Rewards that I used towards my next purchases. See when you start shopping like this, you realize that you will NEVER EVER pay for anything Health and Beauty wise. This is why it is helpful to buy multiple newspapers (I buy 4) for coupons and plan your attack!!
I kept doing things like this over and over. I would reuse my RR's and "roll them over" into the next transaction. This is how I saved $170.68 and spent $19.92 OOP with $5 left in RR!!!!!!!
Good luck and let me know if you have any questions.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Need ideas on using up all of those apples?? Our family LOVES this recipe.
Fresh Apple Dessert
1/2 cup Butter
1 cup honey
1 egg
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup Sucanat
2 cups freshly milled flour (hard white but I used soft white)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 cups finely chopped apples
1 cup chopped nuts
Cream butter and honey. Add eggs, vanilla, sour cream, and Sucanat. Continue mixing and adding dry ingredients. Mix in nuts and apples. Spread in a greased 8 x 12 pan and bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Serve warm or cool. Top with whip cream or ice cream if desired (but I got to tell you that this stuff is SO good you WILL want to!, lol)
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Do you LOVEVision Forum like we do? Don't miss out on the chance to get alot of their products 75% off!! These prices will be good through October 2nd (THIS Friday!).
Monday, September 28, 2009
I have had several friends ask me about my couponing, savings and shopping, so I thought I would detail my post here. This shopping trip was ONLY to Publix but this will show you an example of how it goes.
1. I buy 4 papers every Sunday. Holidays do not have papers but every other Sunday does. I use the coupons from there. Also our local paper has coupons. I also get alot of my coupons from online!
2. Publix accepts competitor coupons. I use a lot of Target coupons there. Some policy states that it has to be within 5 miles of the store so keep that in mind.
3. We do NOT make a list and then go shopping. We eat and make a list off of what is on sale!
4. I have a price point of $1 or less for a ton of my items.
5. When doing a BOGO (by one get one free), the price is halved and you can use TWO coupons (one for each item).
6. NOT ALL BOGO's are a good deal!!
7. My coupons are organized with a photo box and a TON of envelopes. They are seperated by category, just like the store (baking, dairy, breakfast, etc). Then sub categories in those are like for baking: oil, cake mix, brownie mix, etc.
I also have envelopes for Target, CVS, Kroger and all of my main stores that I visit. That way if I have store coupons, I can put them in there.
8. I try to make sure I can do a double, triple or quadruple deal. Publix doubles coupons to .50. So I use a coupon and they double. Hey that's great, right? Well, then I get to use a store coupon ON TOP of the manufacturer coupon! Cool huh?
9. Create a "stockpile". Stockpiling means buying items a) when they are on sale and b) when you have coupons. Stockpiling enables you to purchase these items at the lowest prices to save you more money. I buy as many items as I have coupons for. Make sure they are items you will use or you will waste your money.
10. Realize that there are "sale cycles". Sales run in cycles of 4-6 weeks.
11. We stockpile on Turkeys and Hams at Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas. FYI. They are usually their lowest prices then. We buy all natural beef from a butcher for $2.25/lb. (processed). We also have a garden that we can from. It is smaller but growing ;)
Two main sites I used for my trip today was:
Fiddle Dee Dee Mom (she details Publix shopping trips)
Coupon Mom (she does deals by state and by store)
Another one I used but not as much was Money Saving Mom
I make sure to look and to see what the sales are and make a list. I then figure out what the prices will be and how much of a savings. I ONLY buy the items we will eat/use or else you are wasting your money.
Here is what we got:
5 boxes of Cherrios (.49 each)
1 Publix shopping bag (free)
1 gallon of Publix water (penny item)
1 OJ (.39)
4 boxes El Monterey Tornados ($1 each)
8 cans of Healthy Harvest Soup (Campbells)
2 pkgs of Keebler Cookies
4 boxes of Smart Balance Butter (.25 each)
8 bags of Steamfresh Veggies (.20 each)
2 Dole Fruit Parfaits
As you can see, We came home. We got quite a bit of items. Let me detail some of the finds:
Smart Balance Spread
BOGO $3.49 ($1.75 each)
Bought 2. Used 2 $1.50 coupons for a total of $3
OOP (out of pocket) was $.50 for BOTH
Another deal was Cherrios $1.99 each (a GOOD sale)
MINUS $1/1 coupon
$.99
MINUS Target $1/2 General Mills coupon
$.49
PLUS Publix has coupons on their site. Two of them. One is if you buy TWO GM products, you get a FREE Publix shopping bag. Also there was another coupon that says if you buy 2 GM products, you get $1 off of OJ. So not only did we get 4 boxes of cereal for $.49 each, but we got a FREE shopping bag and a $.39 can of OJ.
Another Deal was the Steamfresh Veggies. They were on BOGO for $2.39 ($1.20 each)
we had $.50/1 coupons. They doubled to $1. So we paid $.20 for each bag. Not bad!!
BTW, look at the top picture. The only thing you do not see is a gallon of Publix water that is in the bag. That was my $.01 (penny) item!
Our total was $54.57. After coupons and sales, our out of pocket was $18!!! Good luck and let me know if you have any questions!!
Saturday, September 05, 2009
Monday, August 31, 2009
Fluff, Pomp, Circumstance and Amusement Parks!
It is complete, with pool tables, Computer Games, Large Screen TV's, Wii games and XBoxes. Then there is a "Snack Bar" full of sugar loaded candy, sodas, etc for your children's enjoyment! To top it all off, this Place is called "Kid's Planet".
I am wondering though. Would you be surprised when I told you that this place, with all of the thrills is actually A CHURCH? All the things I described to you, is at a local church and all of these things I described above is in their CHILDREN'S CHURCH!
We go to a different church, but my cousin, who is living with us, is of a different denomination. We thought someone would take her, but they didn't respond until later, so my hubby decided that we would go with her (to make her feel more comfortable). I had heard from a friend that the "sermons were not deep" so I didn't expect much, but OH MY.
You know there are times in your life when you encounter High Pressure Sales people in retail markets and they won't TAKE NO FOR AN ANSWER?? Well we encountered it this week, at a CHURCH! The story begins!
When we entered the church, we had unknowingly entered the children's department. All we wanted was directions to where the sanctuary is.. One lady began to tell us where it was and I turned around. A worker in this "Kid's Planet" had "sank her teeth" into our youngest boys, and wasn't letting go.....but I will get to that in a minute.
This was NOT our church. We had NO intentions of it EVER being our church. Not only that, our children worship with US in the sanctuary. That is the way it is. So this woman, gave the boys "VIP" passes. I told her NO (in a nice tone) and told her we just wanted to know where the sanctuary is. Her response is Oh really we just would really want the kids to come (and she asks MY BOYS permission!). I stress to her AGAIN that the boys (one of them was only within the K-6th guidelines). So she begins to tell them all the things they have, and she asks to "give them a gift for being a first time visitor". I said "Fine". So she was gone a LONG time, for a "gift." What had happened, was this woman had taken them on a TOUR of all of the Fluff, Pomp, Circumstance and Amusement Park stuff HOPING that our boys would beg to go. Well, they were NOT impressed (more like SHOCKED!) So the woman FINALLY brings them back, and to which she tells them "now that YOU have seen the things, don't you want to come". I said "Ma'am I said NO!" We just want to go to church! (my blood pressure was HIGH and I was SO mad!) She said "You must be mistaken!" By then I told my husband and family to let's go that we would find it ourselves. This woman quite frankly would NOT TAKE NO for answer! I was not only put off by her, but her attitude that she could "ask me enough and wear me down enough until we "surrendered" our children to them.
Then we get to the sanctuary. Complete with a "cafe" with frappachino, large cinnamon rolls, snacks, food, lights, camera ACTION! It was VERY distracting! Obviously, we walked into what people have deemed today as "seeker friendly".
The thing that struck me, is my cousin is the SAME DENOMINATION as this church. SHE was offended, distracted and disturbed! THAT says something to me.
First of all, would Jesus even enter into some of our churches now a days or even WANT to? What would be his reaction? We envision a scene similar to Jesus' reaction to the Temple and the exchange between the money changers. As I prayerfully consider if the Lord is leading us to respond further, I am thinking a copy of a letter, plus a cd of the Centrality of the Home and the book Family Driven Faith (both from Voddie Baucham, Jr.) might be in the works to go to the head pastor of that church!
It is complete, with pool tables, Computer Games, Large Screen TV's, Wii games and XBoxes. Then there is a "Snack Bar" full of sugar loaded candy, sodas, etc for your children's enjoyment! To top it all off, this Place is called "Kid's Planet".
I am wondering though. Would you be surprised when I told you that this place, with all of the thrills is actually A CHURCH? All the things I described to you, is at a local church and all of these things I described above is in their CHILDREN'S CHURCH!
We go to a different church, but my cousin, who is living with us, is of a different denomination. We thought someone would take her, but they didn't respond until later, so my hubby decided that we would go with her (to make her feel more comfortable). I had heard from a friend that the "sermons were not deep" so I didn't expect much, but OH MY.
You know there are times in your life when you encounter High Pressure Sales people in retail markets and they won't TAKE NO FOR AN ANSWER?? Well we encountered it this week, at a CHURCH! The story begins!
When we entered the church, we had unknowingly entered the children's department. All we wanted was directions to where the sanctuary is.. One lady began to tell us where it was and I turned around. A worker in this "Kid's Planet" had "sank her teeth" into our youngest boys, and wasn't letting go.....but I will get to that in a minute.
This was NOT our church. We had NO intentions of it EVER being our church. Not only that, our children worship with US in the sanctuary. That is the way it is. So this woman, gave the boys "VIP" passes. I told her NO (in a nice tone) and told her we just wanted to know where the sanctuary is. Her response is Oh really we just would really want the kids to come (and she asks MY BOYS permission!). I stress to her AGAIN that the boys (one of them was only within the K-6th guidelines). So she begins to tell them all the things they have, and she asks to "give them a gift for being a first time visitor". I said "Fine". So she was gone a LONG time, for a "gift." What had happened, was this woman had taken them on a TOUR of all of the Fluff, Pomp, Circumstance and Amusement Park stuff HOPING that our boys would beg to go. Well, they were NOT impressed (more like SHOCKED!) So the woman FINALLY brings them back, and to which she tells them "now that YOU have seen the things, don't you want to come". I said "Ma'am I said NO!" We just want to go to church! (my blood pressure was HIGH and I was SO mad!) She said "You must be mistaken!" By then I told my husband and family to let's go that we would find it ourselves. This woman quite frankly would NOT TAKE NO for answer! I was not only put off by her, but her attitude that she could "ask me enough and wear me down enough until we "surrendered" our children to them.
Then we get to the sanctuary. Complete with a "cafe" with frappachino, large cinnamon rolls, snacks, food, lights, camera ACTION! It was VERY distracting! Obviously, we walked into what people have deemed today as "seeker friendly".
The thing that struck me, is my cousin is the SAME DENOMINATION as this church. SHE was offended, distracted and disturbed! THAT says something to me.
First of all, would Jesus even enter into some of our churches now a days or even WANT to? What would be his reaction? We envision a scene similar to Jesus' reaction to the Temple and the exchange between the money changers. As I prayerfully consider if the Lord is leading us to respond further, I am thinking a copy of a letter, plus a cd of the Centrality of the Home and the book Family Driven Faith (both from Voddie Baucham, Jr.) might be in the works to go to the head pastor of that church!
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Monday, July 13, 2009
Zucchini/Carrot Bread
1 1/2 cups grated zucchini or carrots
1/2 cup oil (Canola is the BEST for this. Olive changes the taste!)
1/2 cup honey (I used a lighter sweeter honey, like Gallberry)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cups raisins (opt)
1 1/2 c freshly milled flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 chopped nuts (I used walnuts) (opt)
Mix oil and honey. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in grated zucchini or carrots. Combine dry ingredients and add to liquid. Stir in nuts and/or raisins. Pour into 1 1/2 lb loaf pan or muffin tins. Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes for bread or 12-15 minutes for muffins.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
For those of you with girls, whether or not you are anti or pro vaccinations, you NEED TO KNOW about the risks and the side effects of Gardasil. You know the shot, that they have been SHOVING down our throats on TV and in the doctor's offices to PROTECT against an STD. Yet it has caused DEATHS. Share this.....Be aware....Educate yourselves....NOT all immunizations are safe or okay.
Gardasil and Deaths Article
Gardasil and Deaths Article
Saturday, July 11, 2009
WHEWWWWWWWWWWW!!!
Well we hope you had a blessed 4th Holiday. Sorry I haven't posted in a while. We were busy, busy busy. It started with a family wedding on the 27th
(Randi Lynn Noble and Eric Johnson), a family cookout/baby shower/church on the 28th,
piano and Joseph's birthday on the 29th
and then we left for Seattle on the 30th. We got home on Tuesday afternoon.
We flew to Seattle, WA (my birthplace) on Tuesday and got there Tuesday night. We arrived and went and stayed with my cousin and her family. Wednesday, Aaron had to work (from my cousin's house), so my mom, my cousin and I drove around Seattle. We went to see the house I was brought home to (after I was born) and the house my mom lived in off of Alki beach. We stopped for our free sandwiches from Arbys ;o). We then went to Sam's club to pick up things we needed for the reunion, like plates, cups, etc. We also had to meet, mid afternoon with the church's janitor to be able to talk about the set up, etc.
Pictures from Alki Beach:
(My cousin MJ and her kids)
House my Aunt was brought home to and my mom lived in when she was 7 on Alki Beach.
Thursday, there was more running around to do. On Thursday, we were also blessed to be blessed with free tickets to the Museum of Flight at Boeing Field. My grandfather, cousins, uncle and father all have worked at Boeing, so it was terrific. Then on Thursday afternoon, we did a "pre-setup" for the reunion.
We also were blessed that my cousin and her hubby own a boat and invited us all to ride on it at Lake Washington. We had quite a few people there, and my hubby enjoyed himself SO much, that he said if we lived near water, he would want a ski boat ;o)
Pictures from Boating and time spent on Lake WA:
Pictures from the Museum of Flight, Boeing Field, Seattle, WA:
Friday, we got up earlier (as we have most mornings) and got ready to meet several of my yahoo group homeschool families for a get-together. One of those families is in transition from TX to Japan, so it was quite special to get together with them. We had 4 families represented and they all got along great, as if they had known each other all along ;o) It was a kindship. We had so much fun! Between the families, Lee didn't bring her family, so between the 3, there were 17 kids ;o) We had lunch, wonderful smoothies (thanks TIM), and the kids had water balloon fights. The only bad part about it, was that it was so short for us. Since it was an hour or so south of the church, we knew we had to leave, to be able to get to the church to help set up for the meet and greet for the reunion Friday night.
Pictures from our Homeschool group get together. These Moms are from GA, TX, & WA:
We got to the church in time to help set up. We were greeted by a loose English Bulldog and later we found out that he had a name. His name was Brady and we were able to turn him in to his owners. Someone had accidentally let him out. We were worried about the heat, and brought him in with us. Aaron tried to say that it would be nice to get him on the plane to bring him home, but we knew he was well trained. We enjoyed him though. We set up with desserts and thanks to my cousin's, we had pizza. We started at 7 pm and people started to trickle in. It was a nice, relaxing way to get to know people before the "big one" on Saturday.
Friday Night Mingle and the beginning of the Reunion:
Saturday was an early day of course. Had to stop and get ice before it started. We got there about 9:30 am and things were going to start at 10 am. Things got to a SLOOOOOOOOWWW start but most people were there by lunch time ;o). We had over 100 there. What a blessing to see such a large and loving family. Really, it had been 25 years TOO long. Since Grandpa was the youngest of 9 and his oldest brother, was 18 years older than he was, I have alot of older cousins. Some of them in their upper 80's. One, cousin Joe, was just in ICU 2 weeks ago for major surgery. We didn't think he would make it, since the surgery was so tough and he almost didn't make it, but he was there, and so was majority of his family. He lives in AZ with his wife. You can tell that he was so excited to be there. It was so exciting to be there. We had people from Pakistan, Ohio, Georgia, California, Alaska, of course Washington, Colorado, Idaho, Oregon and there might be others. The oldest family member there was 87 years old. He is also the bearer of the coveted Gold-headed Cane, that has been in our family for over 250 years. Saturday night, was the 4th, so after we cleaned up, we went to my cousin MJ's house and we watched the fireworks from their deck. It was cool to see Mt. Ranier from their deck and then the fireworks. It was awesome to be able to visit with them one on one too.
On Sunday, we got ready to go and meet our family for a second reunion. The first one was for my Grandpa's side of the family. This one was for my grandma's side of the family. We went to a camp near Lake Stevens and had a great time. We had 35-40 which isn't bad for a short notice. It was so fun to see my cousins and my remaining Aunt and Uncle that are still living. So much love. Sunday night, we went to my Grandparent's best friends house, which is where my parents were staying. They really wanted to see us and spend time with us. They LOVED it. They especially loved it when our oldest got up and played some good ole hymns on their piano. Loren's eyes lit up, he started bouncing and couldn't get enough. He then wanted to know what else he could play and started asking requests for songs ;o) Not yet, but he still enjoyed what Joshua had done.
Monday was another fun filled day. We decided to drive over to Bremerton, which meant around the lake to meet with a girlfriend of mine, that I went to school with, worked with while in WI and was in our wedding (almost 17 years ago). She and her hubby both work at the Bremerton Shipyard. As we drover over, we stopped off of the side of the road and saw some carriers: Numbers 61, 62 and 64: The Independence, the Constellation and the Ranger. But we were sad that none of them were #63: The Kitty Hawk. They were really far away though. We had hopes of seeing her majesty the USS Kitty Hawk. (My daddy was on her for 4 1/2 years and she was decommissioned the end of January.) Well, it was SO good to see Kathy and meet her hubby Scott too for the first time. I asked Kathy about the KH but she said she was inaccessible and non visible. She was "locked away" and we were unable to get near her to take a picture unless you were out on a boat.... We had a nice lunch with Kathy and Scott and went to the pier. We saw the Destroyer "Turner Joy" and while there we asked about the KH again. We were told the SAME thing. It was locked up and IF we wanted to see it, we would have to take a ferry to Port Orchard, WA to get a "glimpse" of her. So I gave up on seeing the KH. We asked about the Ferry Schedules and the boys were SO excited to get to ride a ferry back to Seattle. We walked around the ferry and started looking around, when Joseph, the 14 yo, said "Mom, look there is a carrier." I looked and the carrier was oh, about 100 yds. away. As soon as I looked up at the top of the carrier, I started to squeal. What do you think I saw??
Oh, How about the NUMBER 63! It WAS indeed, the glorious, Honorable, USS KITTY HAWK. Joshua, the oldest was on the OTHER side of the ship when he heard me say her name, and he came running over. I snapped picture after picture of her and called my daddy immediately! It was no doubt one of the highlights of the trip! We rode the ferry back over to Seattle and how beautiful it was. From there, we went to my uncle's brother's house to have a last "hurrah". My cousin, who is in the US Army and his family were returning to Ft. Hood, TX and so we had a family gathering/cookout. We spent Monday night, packing and getting ready to leave. We had to be up at 4 am pacific time to come home on Tuesday morning, but we didn't get much sleep. It was a memorable, but VERY busy trip. We had so much fun. I hope to update more often now that we are back home.
Well we hope you had a blessed 4th Holiday. Sorry I haven't posted in a while. We were busy, busy busy. It started with a family wedding on the 27th
(Randi Lynn Noble and Eric Johnson), a family cookout/baby shower/church on the 28th,
piano and Joseph's birthday on the 29th
and then we left for Seattle on the 30th. We got home on Tuesday afternoon.
We flew to Seattle, WA (my birthplace) on Tuesday and got there Tuesday night. We arrived and went and stayed with my cousin and her family. Wednesday, Aaron had to work (from my cousin's house), so my mom, my cousin and I drove around Seattle. We went to see the house I was brought home to (after I was born) and the house my mom lived in off of Alki beach. We stopped for our free sandwiches from Arbys ;o). We then went to Sam's club to pick up things we needed for the reunion, like plates, cups, etc. We also had to meet, mid afternoon with the church's janitor to be able to talk about the set up, etc.
Pictures from Alki Beach:
(My cousin MJ and her kids)
House my Aunt was brought home to and my mom lived in when she was 7 on Alki Beach.Thursday, there was more running around to do. On Thursday, we were also blessed to be blessed with free tickets to the Museum of Flight at Boeing Field. My grandfather, cousins, uncle and father all have worked at Boeing, so it was terrific. Then on Thursday afternoon, we did a "pre-setup" for the reunion.
We also were blessed that my cousin and her hubby own a boat and invited us all to ride on it at Lake Washington. We had quite a few people there, and my hubby enjoyed himself SO much, that he said if we lived near water, he would want a ski boat ;o)
Pictures from Boating and time spent on Lake WA:
Pictures from the Museum of Flight, Boeing Field, Seattle, WA:
Friday, we got up earlier (as we have most mornings) and got ready to meet several of my yahoo group homeschool families for a get-together. One of those families is in transition from TX to Japan, so it was quite special to get together with them. We had 4 families represented and they all got along great, as if they had known each other all along ;o) It was a kindship. We had so much fun! Between the families, Lee didn't bring her family, so between the 3, there were 17 kids ;o) We had lunch, wonderful smoothies (thanks TIM), and the kids had water balloon fights. The only bad part about it, was that it was so short for us. Since it was an hour or so south of the church, we knew we had to leave, to be able to get to the church to help set up for the meet and greet for the reunion Friday night.
Pictures from our Homeschool group get together. These Moms are from GA, TX, & WA:
We got to the church in time to help set up. We were greeted by a loose English Bulldog and later we found out that he had a name. His name was Brady and we were able to turn him in to his owners. Someone had accidentally let him out. We were worried about the heat, and brought him in with us. Aaron tried to say that it would be nice to get him on the plane to bring him home, but we knew he was well trained. We enjoyed him though. We set up with desserts and thanks to my cousin's, we had pizza. We started at 7 pm and people started to trickle in. It was a nice, relaxing way to get to know people before the "big one" on Saturday.
Friday Night Mingle and the beginning of the Reunion:
Saturday was an early day of course. Had to stop and get ice before it started. We got there about 9:30 am and things were going to start at 10 am. Things got to a SLOOOOOOOOWWW start but most people were there by lunch time ;o). We had over 100 there. What a blessing to see such a large and loving family. Really, it had been 25 years TOO long. Since Grandpa was the youngest of 9 and his oldest brother, was 18 years older than he was, I have alot of older cousins. Some of them in their upper 80's. One, cousin Joe, was just in ICU 2 weeks ago for major surgery. We didn't think he would make it, since the surgery was so tough and he almost didn't make it, but he was there, and so was majority of his family. He lives in AZ with his wife. You can tell that he was so excited to be there. It was so exciting to be there. We had people from Pakistan, Ohio, Georgia, California, Alaska, of course Washington, Colorado, Idaho, Oregon and there might be others. The oldest family member there was 87 years old. He is also the bearer of the coveted Gold-headed Cane, that has been in our family for over 250 years. Saturday night, was the 4th, so after we cleaned up, we went to my cousin MJ's house and we watched the fireworks from their deck. It was cool to see Mt. Ranier from their deck and then the fireworks. It was awesome to be able to visit with them one on one too.
On Sunday, we got ready to go and meet our family for a second reunion. The first one was for my Grandpa's side of the family. This one was for my grandma's side of the family. We went to a camp near Lake Stevens and had a great time. We had 35-40 which isn't bad for a short notice. It was so fun to see my cousins and my remaining Aunt and Uncle that are still living. So much love. Sunday night, we went to my Grandparent's best friends house, which is where my parents were staying. They really wanted to see us and spend time with us. They LOVED it. They especially loved it when our oldest got up and played some good ole hymns on their piano. Loren's eyes lit up, he started bouncing and couldn't get enough. He then wanted to know what else he could play and started asking requests for songs ;o) Not yet, but he still enjoyed what Joshua had done.
Monday was another fun filled day. We decided to drive over to Bremerton, which meant around the lake to meet with a girlfriend of mine, that I went to school with, worked with while in WI and was in our wedding (almost 17 years ago). She and her hubby both work at the Bremerton Shipyard. As we drover over, we stopped off of the side of the road and saw some carriers: Numbers 61, 62 and 64: The Independence, the Constellation and the Ranger. But we were sad that none of them were #63: The Kitty Hawk. They were really far away though. We had hopes of seeing her majesty the USS Kitty Hawk. (My daddy was on her for 4 1/2 years and she was decommissioned the end of January.) Well, it was SO good to see Kathy and meet her hubby Scott too for the first time. I asked Kathy about the KH but she said she was inaccessible and non visible. She was "locked away" and we were unable to get near her to take a picture unless you were out on a boat.... We had a nice lunch with Kathy and Scott and went to the pier. We saw the Destroyer "Turner Joy" and while there we asked about the KH again. We were told the SAME thing. It was locked up and IF we wanted to see it, we would have to take a ferry to Port Orchard, WA to get a "glimpse" of her. So I gave up on seeing the KH. We asked about the Ferry Schedules and the boys were SO excited to get to ride a ferry back to Seattle. We walked around the ferry and started looking around, when Joseph, the 14 yo, said "Mom, look there is a carrier." I looked and the carrier was oh, about 100 yds. away. As soon as I looked up at the top of the carrier, I started to squeal. What do you think I saw??
Oh, How about the NUMBER 63! It WAS indeed, the glorious, Honorable, USS KITTY HAWK. Joshua, the oldest was on the OTHER side of the ship when he heard me say her name, and he came running over. I snapped picture after picture of her and called my daddy immediately! It was no doubt one of the highlights of the trip! We rode the ferry back over to Seattle and how beautiful it was. From there, we went to my uncle's brother's house to have a last "hurrah". My cousin, who is in the US Army and his family were returning to Ft. Hood, TX and so we had a family gathering/cookout. We spent Monday night, packing and getting ready to leave. We had to be up at 4 am pacific time to come home on Tuesday morning, but we didn't get much sleep. It was a memorable, but VERY busy trip. We had so much fun. I hope to update more often now that we are back home.
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