Year of the purple banner...

Tressa finished off her 10 years in 4H with  style.  Winning the Grand Champion Barrow at the County Fair and Senior Swine Showman and Reserve Champion Dairy Showman.  Kennedy received her purple banner by winning  Grand Champion Grade Dairy.  It has been fun to watch T-Bird grow as a showman over the past 4 years.  The night of the swine show I will always remember when she was picked as the winner what a special memory.  We are very proud of both girls, what a great year!

Graduation Day

Congrats to Tressa!

Celebrations

Yesterday, we spent the day with family and friends. I have attached a picture of Nanny and Cadley.  We were celebrating Ansens 1st Birthday.  Ansen is so cute and sweet, but for some reason I did not get a picture of the Birthday boy.  I think I spent too much time in the quieter room.

One of our favorite trips!

Chris and I were blessed this month to travel to Argentina.  The first part of our trip started in the wine country of Mendoza (picture below).  Andes Mountains in the background, wonderful wines, sunny weather.  The people were very friendly, Chris now believes he is an expert in Spanish!  They celebrate New Years Eve like the U. S. celebrates the 4th of July, we had a great view to watch the activities, along with some great wine!

The second part of our trip took us to Buenos Aires, loved the history of the city!  Beautiful churches, historical buildings and cemeteries.  Their driving skills need some work, but we survived!  Chris stayed on for another week, while I traveled the red eye to see my girls, who had come down with a bad cold.  We are glad to be home, but wish we could of brought back the warm weather!

Christmas Letter

For those who check our blog this is our Christmas letter.  I have just finished sealing the last envelope of our Christmas cards. The Christmas tree lights are shining bright, the house is quite and Marley sleeps beside me.  I am pleased to say again this year that God has outrageously blessed us with health, family and a wonderful ability to be able to travel and see Gods splendor.  The highlights of the year are Tressa's wonderful ability to be scatterbrained it keeps her dad and I on our toes, too many stories to tell.  We really do worry about her when she goes off to college without our daily guidance.  The good news is that Tressa has learned a lot from her graphic design class that she took this semester, she even has gained a job part time from this experience. Kennedy continues to volunteer at PAWS and would also like to volunteer at Humane Society. We wish you a very Merry Christmas and a healthy New Year. We look forward to the time of making memories with our family this holiday season and to an exciting 2015 with many changes...bubbles fromT-bird , eat a snack from K!  Spaaazzz from Mar...

Christmas movie night...

Just a reminder that every Thursday in the month of December TCM is showing classic Christmas movies.  As I write this my all-time favorite Remember the Night is on.  I am texting my brother and sister as I watch, all of us in different towns, but one still in our hometown.  It's always nice to go back to our hometown and watching this movie makes me feel just a little closer to home.  #TCMparty

Christmas 2014

This ornament on our tree caught my eye this evening so I thought I would share.  Always a busy time of the year, but we hope you take the time to remember the reason for the season our Lord Jesus Christ the one who has given us all the gifts that we have. God Bless!

October schedule

October consisted of Senior Pictures and a quick trip to Gatlinburg.  We found our favorite spot in the Smokey Mountains where we like to skip rocks, swim and watch the water swiftly move by as we enjoy the sweet sound of the kids playing in the background.  The family picture was difficult for me to take because I knew it could be the last family vacation before Tressa leaves for college next year.  Of course I cried through every photo while everyone laughed.  It is hard being a Mom...

Chris and Kennedy just returned from the Trails of Terror, can we just say Boo Boo didn't last long.  When you are being chased by a guy with a chain saw it is time to go home.

I love this season, wish I could make it up north to see my favorite small town in its splendor this time of year, some of my best memories are from the Fall.

Thank you God for this wonderful season, harvest and family.  God Bless.

Just a letter...

As we start the school year T is a Senior and K is now in 7th grade.  As all parents will say where has the time gone?    For me as the Mom of two wonderful girls, I would say that about Tressa, but as the Mother of Kennedy, the time for her to graduate cannot come soon enough.  It is hard to admit and only within the last year have I been able to admit that Kennedy is Autistic.   It is a daily struggle, not only as a parent, but also as a sister.  I do appreciate her as she is a loving, caring spirit - that is what we gain from Autism - a girl who is blunt and honest, gives hugs, loves pets, knows that God is the answer.  The negatives are many and some days its hard not to think of them, but I am reminded that she is not bothered by it, she does not know different, she is so happy, why should I question God?  I am PROUD of her we are BLESSED to have a girl that loves her parents so much, she does what we ask (we only have to ask once), looks up to her sister and has a great attitude as a 13 year old.

I asked her tonight what advice she would give someone if they asked "what would you do different or is there anything you would do different in your life?" Her answer is "do what you love, volunteer to help others."  She recently started a "job" helping at PAWS every other week for 4 hours on Saturday, she is so excited.  I am happy for her, it should help with social skills.  That is my advice as well to both of my children, do what you love.  Once you find a job you love, stay with it, no matter what others may suggest, you know what is best for yourself not others.  Girls, so many things will come up and you have to make a decision, your soul will tell you what to do, I hope that you will listen.

Advice from a TREE...

• stand tall and proud
• Sink your roots deeply into the Earth
• Think long term
• Go out on a limb
• Remember your place among all living beings
• Embrace with joy the changing seasons
• For each yields its own abundance

Fletcher Avenue, Indianapolis

We did some sight seeing on Sunday to scout out locations for Senior pictures.  We enjoyed the frozen yogurt ice cream where would could swing and enjoy our ice cream.  We ended the day at the Indpls Museum of Art.

New adventures coming this Fall, updates later...

Its about time...

Yes it is about time in so many ways.  It is about time for another Triple Crown Winner, its about time to catch up on the blog, its about the need for more time to get things done so I can catch up on the blog!

Well since March 5th (Mom that is terrible, its been that long?) Tressa has gone to Costa Rica, Kennedy has acquired goats, we now have 8 pigs, we have almost completed our resort patio, Tressa went to the prom, Kennedy now has braces, Chris has stayed up for 25 hours to haul pigs for his daughter, Chris has brought me Leinenkugal, Tressa has texted Olivia 500 million times, Tressa has not listened to a thing I have said, but Kennedy has listened to me and LAST but not least we are a healthy, happy family who in the long run enjoy each other and love our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

A long time ago I started this blog, the 2nd or 3rd blog was about us watching the Kentucky Derby, today we are watching the Belmont and hoping that California Chrome wins the Triple Crown. 

It is pig show season and we have attended some open shows, Tressa did get Reserve Showman at the Hancock Open Show.  We are also working with the Dairy cows and Kennedy has improved so much!  Love watching both of them work together. 

School has ended and I cant believe what I am about to say...Tressa is a Senior!  What?  How can that happen?  Kennedy is ready to move on to 7th grade as we are too, that was a rough year.  We have already toured our alma maters with Purdue now in the lead for the college of choice.  I cry everyday that she is leaving and I still have over a year before she leaves.  When we were at Purdue I broke down in the parking lot, pathetic (according to Chris and Tressa).  Tressa is trying her best to make me grateful that she is leaving by not listening, putting things away and yelling at us, so far it is not working. 

I wish we had more time to get things done, but it looks like that will happen in  13 years when I hopefully retire.  Below are some pictures that we thought you might enjoy.

Pig Season begins...

That time of year again, it comes too quickly.  I wish the weather would warm up before we put the pigs in a barn with no heat.  Chris has been traveling the last 3 weeks and we are ready for him to be home!  This is how much Tressa misses him...




Tressa:  When is Dad coming home?
Mom:  Thursday, why do you miss him?
Tressa:  No, I just need someone to start my car in the morning and drive it around to the garage.


Chris texted back:  Tell Tressa her Butler will be home soon, we will catch up then.  


At least he knows he is missed!


Well, I was going to post a picture of Kennedy with a baby pig, but the blogspot will not download the picture.  This website is getting more difficult to use.  I think it is time to change to a new blog site.  My next post may be the new address to our family blog.  Thanks for your patience.

Another day off...

Well, the snow has caused a power outage where I work which means I will not be going back to work after having 6 weeks off.  This has caused me to have another nap, play cards with Kennedy, yell at Tressa, listen to Kennedy scream because Tressa won't hand over the Kindle.    You ask, "what you were off for 6 weeks, what happened?"  Finally Chris paid for me to have plastic surgery, thank goodness!  My next blog will give you the before and after, I'm sure you can't wait. 

It is so cold outside and I want to report that I am so tired of WTHR preempting the evening shows because they want to cover the "snow emergency" for 24 hours, enough already!  How many times do we have to see the empty bread isle or the reporter in the snow bank, really?

The dogs love running in the snow until the snow gets in their paws and wont come out until they are back in the barn under the heat lamp. Lots of bones and marshmallows for those two tonight.

Well, I am off to get under the covers and watch some TCM...

Snow Day 2014

Just the beginning of 2014 and we are we are supposed to receive 10 inches or more of snow.  The girls made a snowman or I should say Tressa did, Kennedy was busy with the dogs.

We also made cupcakes, took a nap and went to the Wilkinson Mall, twice.  What an exciting day!  Girls go back to school Tuesday, maybe....

Christmas Day filled with good memories for the girls.  Clothes, jewelry and headsets were the highlight of the day. 

Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas...

I love the Christmas songs...I love the Christmas movies on TCM...I love that there is snow on the ground in December only...I love watching the girls get excited about the Holiday.

Today we were watching TCM and they had a special about Christmas movies, I kept saying "Ohhhh that one is my favorite!"  Chris and Tressa said "Mom every one of the movies has been your favorite!"  Hey it is hard to choose, but when the Gremlins came on I did not say that was my favorite!  Who can't make it through Christmas without watching the "Bishops Wife," "Christmas in Connecticut," "Holiday Affair," "Shop Around the Corner," or MY FAVORITE....REALLY... "Remember the Night."  I think I did a blog on that movie a couple of years ago, but if you grew up in Wabash County you must watch that movie! 

Praise the Lord I am able to say, we have had an awesome year and we have been blessed by God with a healthy family, great friends and neighbors and wonderful opportunities to travel and see Gods splendor.  We wish you the best  in 2014, look forward to the memories to be made.  Here are some of our favorite memories from 2013...

Louisville 2013 Showmanship



Kentucky Derby 2x Champion Calvin Borel

Kennedy showing Dairy 2013

Me and Tim...

Well, where do I start?  I call it the Tim McGraw effect, think positive and it will happen.  I think the pictures tell it all and it is such a long story I can't tell you all of it, so here it is in a shorten version.

God is good, all the time, all the time God is good! 

Well that's part of it, okay let me try this again...

Trip to Vegas to see Tim and Faith in concert, stayed at the BEAUTIFUL Venetian, had spa day on the morning of the concert, AWESOME spa (134,000 sq ft, 98 massage rooms) it was so relaxing!  On my way back to the room I met Tim in the hall and briefly talked to him, he was leaving the gym and he looked great, reminded me of Chris.  I told him I was going to his concert and it was my birthday, I was so star struck that I did not ask for a picture or autograph, I couldn't believe it!  That night at the concert when he walked down our aisle I yelled out to him and he remembered me and shook my hand, I mean could it get any better?  Yes, it could...
Half way through the concert Tim ended a song by announcing that he wanted to wish a young lady a "Happy 25th Birthday!"  I was thinking "crap someone else has a birthday," but when he started coming down our aisle I chanced it and stood up and yelled (of course I did).  That's when he said "there she is I met her today as we were leaving the gym," the rest is history...I received a signed guitar from Tim and as you can see I took the microphone and informed the crowd how wonderful Tim was (Faith too) and how I couldn't believe this was happening.
To be honest I have told this story to some people and it makes them smile, laugh and I thought to myself how wonderful it must be to affects peoples lives, to make a difference in someone's life as Mr. McGraw did.  It makes me want to give more to help others, I hope that I do...

Show time for Tressa

From March to November we had pigs in the barn and Tressa worked every night to train each group.  The weekend of her 17th birthday we finished the year in Louisville, KY.  The top photo is from the Open Show at the State Fair where we placed 1st, the other photo is of Tressa and Holly where they placed 9th in her Division overall for showmanship.   Great year Tressa, look forward to 2014, but at this point we look forward to the break as I know you do too.

Picture this...

Last night we were watching "The Voice," and for 10 minutes the girls sat on the couch and did not argue or fight.  They even looked angelic as I watched them. Kennedy leaning in towards Tressa and without either one of them knowing that I was watching them, heaven forbid that I might say something for it would ruin the moment.  What a special time...

The weather has turned cold and the leaves are starting to fall, my favorite time of the season, but I could do without the cold weather.  We are busy with our jobs, homework and pig work.  One last show for the season and we are off for 4 months, YES!  Tressa loves showing pigs but it has been a long year. 

Labor Day 2013

With this lovely day off I am going to try and catch up on the blog.  State Fair went well and we enjoyed so many things this year...

• Fried cookie dough, do this on the last day or you will be having it everyday.
• Blue ribbon with honors for 4H photography
• Watching the 6 pull team of Belgium horses. 
• 1st place in class for Crossbreed Classic
• Riding the Fair Train and the log ride!
• Seeing friends from college!

We vacationed at Hocking Hills in Ohio, beautiful pictures from the trails.  Pomeroy, OH we visited with friends and enjoyed the views from the Ohio River.

The girls started school on July 31st, summer goes too fast.  Kennedy had to have her spike shoes (see below).  She is letting hair grow out and some days it overtakes her head!  Thick hair from her moms side, but as she gets older she will appreciate it.  Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Dad, Kennedy at Hocking Hills!

4H Awards plus the puppies 2013

First day of 6th grade and Junior Year!