Cleaning Up the Mess ~ Originally Published May 12, 2013

Do you remember this

from our drive from Joplin, MO to Coffeyville, KS?

(if not you can read about it here)

Well one day last week we decided it was time to check those totes that had taken their own little adventure

and this is what we found:

This is Tote #1.  The lid came off and is now cracked and broken.

Also the lower right corner has a big chunk missing from the tote :(

A close up of the corner :(

Take the lid off, another tote inside

It has a big piece missing from its right corner :(

It was full of Fall decorations but nothing was found broken or missing :)

We transferred the contents to another tote :)

And labeled it correctly :)

Then on to Tote #2

Tote #2 still had the zip ties on 2 of the 4 corners.

And this is what we found minus the stuffed bear and musical dog that we picked up off the road and had been drying up by the dog house for the past week.  You will be  happy to know the musical dog still works :)

This is the angel that broke.  It was special to us as Judy, Ron's sister, had given it to us our very first Christmas in the motor home, 2006.  In the front it had the nativity scene with an ever-changing LED light behind it.  It was pretty and we enjoyed watching it change colors and brought peacefulness to the rig in the early evening hours after a busy day at work.

One of the wings that broke off.  We were missing a few pieces so we could not glue it back together so we said good-bye.  We will keep our eyes open to see if we can find something similar down the road.

If you know us at all, you know Christmas is one of our favorite holidays and we love to decorate.  When we first moved into our motor home we put 19 totes of Christmas decorations in our storage unit.  Over the past six years we have taken a couple of totes out to change-up the decorations of the motor home and now carry two totes of Christmas decorations along with a tote full, really full of Christmas lights that we decorate with wherever we are at Christmas.  We have also passed a few things onto our boys and their families and we plan on doing that some more when we are back in Whatcom County next January to March (2014) and yes, we are already planning our vacation for next year.

Do you like to decorate for Christmas?

How about for other holidays?

How many boxes or totes do you have stashed away that you bring out each holiday season.

And in case you are wondering we do have an Americana tote that comes out this next week where we will decorate with Red, White & Blue for the season of Memorial Day thru Labor Day!!

And the tote full of Fall decorations and a tote with Valentines Day, St. Patrick's Day and Easter decorations!!

Oh the Little Things that Bring Us Joy ~ Originally published May 6, 2013

First off, I have to start with a special blessing we had today.

I got to Skype with this sweet momma and baby

And these two pumpkins

And then once Grandpa got home he got to Skype with them too!!!

We heard about Christopher saving up his money to buy a special sprinkler ~ it has like 10 points that shoot water all over and because it is so warm there in Clackamas today (85') and now that all the boys are awake from their naps they get to go play in the sprinkler...guess Grammy & Grandpa will have to wait for another day to see those sweet boys again.  We are always thankful for our blessings.

Last week on Ron's three days off we ~ can you guess ??? that's right

Went for a Drive.  This time to Oklahoma.

It was a 6 hour drive but we were probably at most 75 miles from our home on wheels.

I took over 70 pictures, but fortunately for y'all I put them into collages :)

We started out going to Oklahoma to get gas.  It is 20 cents a gallon cheaper :)  This is a little town we came upon.  The sign in the second picture down on the left side represents their school mascot and then we saw this cool grocery store. And a sweet little home.  As you can see the sky was filled with lots of blue and white puffy clouds.

We like to go to old cemeteries and we saw this sign for "Relocated Cemeteries" so we wandered through.  One of the oldest markers was from the mid 1800's.  Lots of babies :( and one of a mom and her four little ones lost over a period of 5 years.  The one in the 2nd picture down on the right side was in a family plot and this was for a newborn, I think he lived 3 days.  The 3rd one down on the right was quite interesting.  It had the marker then next to it was the round stone that had etchings of farm life, trees, a spring and field of grain.

As we continued we came into the town where Will Rogers was born.  The 2nd picture down on the right is there town square and this is in the center where all four roads meet.  Loved the simplicity of the Methodist church and the street sign.

On the main thorough fare is a replica of Will Roger's home, a sign welcoming people to the town and the story of Will's life and career.  The red barn and white face cow are behind the replica of the home. And see we were really there!

As we continued on our drive we saw this roadside sign of one of the many battles in the area.  Ron had to show me the Jeep in the center picture - he wants to do that to our Jeep ~ ummm...don't think so I already have a hard enough time getting into the Jeep :)  Along with more pictures of the surrounding area.

I love hominy and there was a sign to Hominy, OK so I said "Let's Go"  We found this little meat market and so went inside.  Ron has been looking for Head Cheese since we left Branson, but alas we still have not found any.  We did pick up some nice looking bacon (and we had some the other day and it was quite tasty) along with a nice rump roast.

Which is what I made for dinner tonight (Monday, 5/6).  It was very tasty and we have plenty left for two or three more meals.

Another road sign of another battle.  And do you see the clouds forming there.  We decided we had better head for home.

After being home about 45 minutes the skies got dark, the thunder started rolling and the next day we had SNOW, yes snow in May in Kansas!!!  We couldn't believe it.  I tried to take pictures through the window of the rig but as you can see they aren't very clear through the screens.  I opened the door at one point to take a picture but the snow is not really showing up.

I had a friend who posted this picture on my Facebook page and said if I saw her I had better run for cover...let's hope I never see her :)  Because we all now about that nasty tornado that came through Kansas after she was seen.

Hope you enjoyed our little trip.

Saturday Night Fun at Grand Country Jubilee~ Originally published on April 14, 2013

Saturday Night Fun at Grand Jubliee

As we are preparing to leave Branson there are a few things we wanted to make sure we did one more time ~ and going to Grand Country and see the show and cast of the Grand Jubilee.  And what a fun night we had.

Our hosts Michael Patrick & Jim Dandy (Jamie Hagee)

New South

The many faces of the band.

Jackie Brown

The only bummer was that Jackie Brown got Ron from the audience and sang to him, stroking his beard and then throwing a kiss to him at the end of the show AND THE BATTERIES HAD DIED IN THE CAMERA :(!

What a fun night ~ wish you could have been with us.

Saying Good-bye: Part of an RV'rs Life ~ Originally published April 14, 2013

Saying Good-bye ~ Part of an RV'rs Life

While we have been here in Branson we  have attended Friendly Baptist Church.  And it is just that FRIENDLY.  We were warmly greeted by Pastor Cardis Bryan and had met  Bill & Virginia Hickox through an RV Facebook page that I belong to.  Shortly after our arrival here in Branson Virginia invited me to a women's fellowship luncheon and we attended a services there.  We love the great Southern Gospel Music, all the old hymns and the great preaching by Pastor Cardis.  As campground managers we couldn't always  make it to services on Sunday mornings and we just hoped they would understand.  And they did :)  Pastor Cardis came and visited us one day here at the campground and told us we were always welcome whenever we could make it.  And there was no pressure to join the church ~ we explained that our home church is in Blaine at Northwood Alliance Church and that was not an issue like the church we attended off/on in Hondo, TX.  That made attending Friendly Baptist Church very enjoyable with no pressure.  We found out a couple of weeks ago that Pastor Cardis was retiring and today would be his last Sunday preaching there.  We made sure to make sure we could go today.  And boy are we glad.  What a glorious service honoring Pastor Cardis & Stephanie and hearing how the church started and how God has blessed them over and over.  If you are ever in the Branson area we encourage you to attend a service or two.

Here are a few pictures and some of the special music we were treated to.

The Choir leading the opening song accompanied by so many wonderful musicians.

The Stained Glass window above the baptistry.  When the sun is shining through it gives off such beautiful colors.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=836cvcnc3d0]

Pastor Cardis Bryan giving his last sermon "Memories"

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjZ7YkbE9Cw]

Jerry, Son-in-law, singing a special tribute to Pastor Cardis

Music Director Bob Mabe and his sweet wife, Sue

Recognizing Pastor Cardis & Stephanie

Saying good-bye to Virginia & Bill Hickox

And we  were invited to stay for lunch and boy was it tasty.  We had fried chicken from Bobby Jack's BBQ and was it delicious!!!  And an assortment of salads, baked beans, corn and green beans w/ham :) and ended with a variety of cupcakes.

AYO = Voices of Glory ~ Originally published April 7, 2013

What a fun evening we had  last night.

 We were blessed with tickets to see AYO at the Hughes Theater.

And here is a little preview to their wonderful music.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0PHjr4gLY0]

Hope you enjoyed this as much as we did.

Blessings from Today ~ Originally Published April 3, 2013

God's greeting to me this morning.

Sunrise at Branson View Campground.

Beautiful sunrise this morning.

Made me think of the little poem:

Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning

Red sky at night, sailors delight.

One of my most favorite things to do is to go out for dinner.  I could go out 5 or 6 times a week if the budget allowed but alas it does not.  This year  my goals are to get healthy, eat out less which means cooking more.  I like to cook I just get tired of trying to figure out what to cook.  I have recruited Ron into helping plan meals and so yesterday I asked him to get some meat out of the freezer for dinner tonight.

Voila ~ dinner was served.

Okra w/tomatoes, homemade potato salad and grilled pork steaks.

Another thing I have found is that if I dish it up we don't eat seconds or thirds!!

He is Risen ~ Originally Published 3/31/13

Have decided that having blogs on both blogger and wordpress is not working for me so now I am going to be reposting the blogs from wordpress here untilthey are copied over.

Woke this morning to loud thunder/lightening and rain and there was a huge thunder clap and immediately I thought about that Friday afternoon when Jesus said "It is Finished" and the great vale was ripped away.

My mind this morning had thoughts of God ripping the sin from my life and making me new in Him.  I am struggling to find the words to express my thoughts but I am filled with thankfulness and awe about what God must have gone through to watch his son die on the cross for me, for you, for all the world.  And no words can express the magnitude of feelings welling up inside of me.  Feelings of love, abundance love!

I want that love that Jesus has for me to exude out of me to others.

We got up early this morning and headed over to Friendly Baptist Church for their early service and breakfast with Virginia & Bill.  We were welcomed by so many.  What a blessing that we as believers can love on each other even though we are unknown to each other.  God's love is what binds us together.

By the time we left church the skies had turned a light blue with the sun peaking out from behind the clouds.  Another new beginning!

I want to close with the words to the hymn "Because He Lives" ~ each time I hear or sing this song I am reminded that I am not alone and that it is because of the sacrifice that God made of giving us his son, to die for us that we can live and have a full and everlasting life.

Because He Lives

God sent his son
They called him Jesus
He came to love
Heal and forgive
He lived and died
To buy my pardon
An empty grave
Is there to prove
My Savior lives

(Chorus)
Because he lives
I can face tomorrow
Because he lives
All fear is gone
Because I know
He holds the future
And life is worth the living
Just because he lives

How sweet to hold
A newborn baby
And feel the pride
And joy he gives
But greater still
The calm assurance
This child can face
Uncertain days
Because he lives

And then one day
I'll cross the river
I'll fight life's final war with pain
And then as death
Gives way to victory
I'll see the lights
Of glory and
I'll know he lives

Have you been wondering where we've been?

Just wanted to let everyone who follows my blog know that I am combining both of my blogs into one and moving over to Wordpress.

You can find me here. 

(Click on the word here in the previous sentence.)

Please let me know if you have any problems finding our new blog.