Funny!

I saw this on Pinterest this week. How funny!!

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Friday's Letters

Dear Jesus: Thank you that Dad did not suffer. Thank you that Dad was saved, and that he raised us in a Christian home.

Dear Michael: Thank you for being so wonderful. Thank you for being patient with me. Thank you for your help, your kindness, and your support. I love you...you were made for me.

Dear Cam: I love watching you show Grandma how to use her computer. I know that you are in your "happy zone" when you get to do this. You are amazing!

Dear Jar: I love how much you love to be with people, and how you get so disappointed when it is time to go home. You are my "Energizer Bunny" (as Grandpa used to say).

Dear Lily: Okay...you have to quit barking at Grandma...every single move she makes or noise she makes.

Dear Mom: You have shown such strength. I am amazed. We pray that God will give you even more strength as the days go by.

Dear Dad: We all miss you so much. We feel like it was a dream...that it could not have possibly happened. I have not been sleeping very good at all. I just keep replaying everything in my mind.

Dear Weather: Dad brought us weather from PA. It has been very cold, but sunny. I have been loving the weather...I know the rain is coming. Yuk!

Dear Thanksgiving Diner: WOW! Why is it we work so hard, and we finish eating it in 20 minutes. I sure wish that my belly could hold more. I love all of the flavors of Thanksgiving.

Dear November: I cannot believe that this is your last weekend. It cannot possibly be less than a month until Christmas. Crazy!!

Dear Family: We have had so much fun spending all of this time with family. I know that the boys have really enjoyed being with cousins.

Dear Hunger Games: We enjoyed going to see you with the family. It was a good movie. I am just a little disappointed with the one scene though. I hate it when they do that.

Dear Grandma Smith: We love having you here. The boys love spending time with you. I know Cam is loving going over your computer with you.

Dear Paper Plates: You are such a life-saver. I would be doing dishes all day long if we did not use you.

Dear Weekend: We are excited to put up Christmas decorations. I love the Christmas season.

Black Friday

I have never done Black Friday shopping. First of all I hate to shop; Secondly, I hate to shop when it is really busy...I don't like huge crowds of people...or waiting in line for forever.

I do really hate though that they have started Black Friday on Thanksgiving now. We are so ridiculous in America...we cannot even take one day off from the busyness.

I love this quote:

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Dad's Memorial Service

Sunday, November 24, 2013, was Dad's Memorial Service. Here are some of the photos of the kids that we took.

Oldest cousins

Date Night

Every time we get together with Kelly and Karey, we try to have a double date night with them. We always laugh so hard. One time we went to see the Pink Panther movie and then to Macaroni Grill afterwards for dessert. We laughed so much during dessert, I am sure the waiters thought we were drunk. We kept saying everything in quotes...like on the movie. (Karey especially found it so funny to use the quotes).

We went to Applebees this time for dinner. It was very good. This time the funny was Karey and his dancing on the cruise ship. Oh my word!!! We laughed so much.

We wish that they lived closer.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was great. We had a large group (about 32 I think). We had the get-together at Mom's church...which worked out great. All of the kids could just run around the gym. They played basketball and four-square. There were also board games. The kids played Apples to Apples, and the women and girls played Boggle and Tensies.

The food was delicious. We had...

• Turkey
• Mashed potatoes
• Gravy
• Rolls
• Carrot Casserole
• Sweet Potato Casserole
• Jello Pretzel salad
• Frog-eye salad
• Crackers, cheese, and summer sausage
• Carrots and grapes
• Hershey kisses
• Cranberry salad

For dessert we had...

• Pumpkin Pie
• Apple Pie
• Banana Cream Pie
• Pumpkin Cranberry Pie
• Chocolate Cream Pie
• Ice Cream

It was delicious. I wish that we could eat more of it. I get way too full too quickly.

Favorite Thanksgiving food

Thanksgiving brings back so many memories of the food at Grandma Joseph's farm. We all had our favorites. My sister loved the mashed potatoes, gravy, carrot casserole, and biscuits. I loved the turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, green jello salad, and cheesecake.

To this day, these are still some of my favorites. But...I also love stuffing--even though I cannot eat much anymore. And I also love pumpkin pie with cool whip.

What I do not like though is that overstuffed feeling...that feeling like you could just fall asleep.

My favorites:

• Turkey
• Mashed potatoes and gravy (my grandma makes the best gravy ever)
• Carrot casserole

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• Pumpkin Pie
• Raspberry Pretzel Salad

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• Stuffing
• Cheesecake

Letters from Dad

Written letters mean so much to me. I actually don't even like store-bought cards. I like it when someone writes me something from their heart, instead of buying someone else's words.

A couple of times I begged Mom and Dad to write the boys letters. Neither of them really wanted to do it, because they thought they were not good at writing. I wanted the boys to have written words from their grandparents...because you never know how long you have with them. Well...who knew that I would be so grateful that I asked Dad to write the boys letters. I never would have dreamed that he would have died this soon...this young. I am so glad that I have these now. And, I know that the boys will appreciate this as they get older.

I am thankful for...

I am thankful for...

*Michael
*Cam
*Jar
*God's love
*the Bible
*my family
*a warm house
*being able to stay at home with my boys
*homeschooling
*a great church
*Lily
*my SUV
*books
*freedom
*my blog/journals
*good health

Psalm 107:1   Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!!  For his love endures forever.

Remember when

This past week I went through a lot of my photos to find photos of Dad. While searching, I came across some photos of Mom and Dad with the boys. These photos bring back so many memories of our life in PA. I can remember when these were all taken. So much can happen in the space of a few years. These past 8 weeks is proof of that. We miss you, Dad.

This was taken one fall day at our house

This was taken at our July 4th celebration

This was taken at Jar's birthday

I know that Dad is not in this one..but this one was a good one of Mom with the kids

Memorial Service

Today was my dad's memorial service. It was a really nice service. It was 2+ hours long...an hour longer than we expected. There were a lot of nice things said about him, and the eulogy was beautiful. Of course, all of the music was beautiful as well.

Cam's 17th Birthday

Cam turned 17 today. We mostly celebrated yesterday. We went to see the Hunger Games with family (cousins) and to Wendy's afterward. We then went to the church, and the kids played in the gym. He opened some of his presents last night and the rest this morning. He is having strawberry cream cakes for breakfast. I will probably make him a special dessert some day this week.

This is what Cam got for his birthday:

1. Sherlock Holmes piano sheet music
2. Hugo piano sheet music
3. Inception piano sheet music
4. Skyfall piano sheet music
5. Doomesday (from Dr. Who) piano sheet music
6. The Yahoo Style Guide book
7. Above the fold book
8. We bought a zoo soundtrack
9. Shutter release remote for his camera
10. Card and money from Grandma

In Memory of...

In loving memory of my dad...who died too young...we will miss him.