Family Matters

Pictures from Cammie

I received from pictures from Cammie that she took over the holidays.

Pictured above, front row:  Cate, Chelsea, Bailey, Lainey, Caylee, Madison.
Back row:  Kaity and Makenzi
Photo take in December while Cammie, Josh and girls were visiting.

Cate, Chelsea and Caylee are Cammie and Joel's girls.
Makenzi and Madison are Lee and Denise's daughters.
Bailey and Lainey are Clint's daughters and Kaity is Clint's step-daughter (April's daughter).

The only granddaughter of Gary and Sheilah's missing from the photo is Ashten who is a junior at OSU.

 

Top above, left to right:  Chelsea, Caylee, Lainey, Makenzi, Bailey, Madison, Cate.
Photo take in December while Cammie, Joel and girls were visiting.

Above, left to right:  Cammie's girls - Cate (red), Chelsea (blue) and Caylee (brown).

 
Pictured above:  Cate (driving), Chelsea (left) and Caylee (right) in a local park near where they live in Wisconsin.  This photo was taken last June.

 
This photo was taken the first day of school in September 2009.  Cate (age 5) is in preschool, Caylee (age 7) is in the first grade and Chelsea (age 9) is in third grade.

(Thanks, Cam, for the photos!)

These are some beautiful little ladies!
   

Brrrrrrrrrr...........

I still cannot get used to the cold... spending the last four winters in South Carolina has completely spoiled me.  If I ever complain about wet 40 degree weather, just slap me!

I'd complain about the weather we are having now, but I visited with Cammie and Joel yesterday at Aunt Sheilah's and they had 14" of snow earlier this year and school wasn't canceled.  The only time they cancel school is if it gets to -15 degrees or it's down in the teens and the wind is blowing really hard.  Then it's dangerous for the kids to be waiting for the buses.  I think 14" of the white stuff is reason enough to cancel snow... they must have some amazing bus drivers not to mention four-wheel drive buses! 

But I think it's still cold around here, that's why I've taken to wearing long underwear even at the house!  LOL...

Thursday 12.24.2009 - This picture is of the solid sheet of ice on my front storm door - minus the melted area where I put my hand!  Took a few nudges to get the door unstuck.

Saturday 12.26.2009 - The snow drift on my back porch.  (Ignore the dirty siding... I have an excuse for not washing it - it's COLD people!  LOL...)

 
I can't wait to see what the world outside my front door looks like in the morning.

Stay warm.

Love Laura 
 

Caroling in Mound City

This afternoon I went to Mound City to watch the kids go caroling with their 4-H club.

Here is that layout.

In case you can't read it the journaling above the large photo reads:  The Busy Bugs 4-H Club went caroling in Mound City tonight.  The original plan was to go around town on horseback; however, the weather turned bad - really cold and misting rain - so the club piled into the back of a trailer to keep out of the wind and weather.  As they were caroling they collected non-perishable items for the local food pantry.  Dad and I followed in my car - thank you Lord for heated seats; I took a few photos and a little video, too.  The idea for this project was Quentin’s.

The journaling "on" the large photo reads:  It’s hard to see here, but Bret, Kate, Quentin, Mollie, Natalie and Brena were among the carolers.

It was a fun afternoon riding around town, watching the kids (and parents) run in and out of the stock trailer while Dad and I visited in the comfort of my warm car.  LOL...

Great idea, Quentin.
 

Decorating a gingerbread house with two adorable little ladies

I was babysitting Brena and Breck last night while Jed and Natalie went out for an evening with some friends.  I decided to pick up a pre-made Wilton gingerbread house while out running errands yesterday so I could decorate it with the girls.

I'm also trying to do a better job of putting together some album layouts of my photos so hopefully you will be seeing more in the future.  (I'm working on a Christmas album right now.)

The journaling reads as follows:

Saturday, 05-Dec-2009
Decorating a gingerbread house with Brena and Breck.  The girls had as much fun eating the decorations as they did putting them on the house.  Brena kept saying we have to finish it and I kept trying to explain that we ran out of icing because we were “eating” it!  LOL...  I’m not sure she got it.  But it was a fun way to spend an evening with the girls.  I hope they had as much fun and I did, even though our finished product didn’t look exactly like the sample that was shown on the box.

My new favorite website

I've been surfing the web a lot lately looking for holiday ideas - decorating, cooking, etc.

I came across "Our Best Bites" recently; click HERE and the website will open in a separate window.

I cannot wait to try some of the recipes on this website - like a Pie in a Jar or Stuff Bleu Cheese Potatoes.  And the cool thing is, they also have quite a few craft projects as well.

Merry Christmas!

Preview of Thanksgiving pictures from the Fuhrmans

Here are a few pictures from the Fuhrman's on Thanksgiving Day.  (I have 215 pictures to go through... oh my!)

 

It was a great day at the Fuhrman's.  Thank you - Deanna and DeWayne - for hosting the days events!
 

Happy (belated) Thanksgiving

I'm a couple of days late, but still wanted to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving.  Of course, it's never to late to be thankful for the Lord's blessings!

New York Thanksgiving (updated)

The Cooney family spent Thanksgiving in New York City.

Here are a few photos from their day in the city.

Happy Thanksgiving!
 
 

Jae gets quite a surprise this morning

This morning Jae got woken at the crack of dawn to catch an airplane to New York with her Aunt Cathy and cousin Alex.  She knew she was going to New York for the holidays, but she had no idea she was going to get to fly.  This is her first airplane trip.

Here is a pretty fuzzy cell phone picture of Jae sitting next to the window on the plane.  (Sorry sis, it looks a lot better on the phone...lol!)

Have fun sister sue!

Umphenour Thanksgiving Get-together

I've been meaning to get everyone called, but that hasn't happened.  So I'm going to post a note here and continue to try and get in touch with everyone in person this week.

We are going to have the Umphenour Thanksgiving dinner on Thanksgiving Day (Thursday, November 26 - in case you were wondering) at Noon at Deanna and DeWayne's house.  (If you need directions, let me know.)  It's a carry in dinner, so bring your favorite dish.

The men-folk will probably be shooting clay pigeons after dinner and the woman-folk will be visiting about everything, and I will be taking pictures of everyone!  HA

I know it's a busy day and a challenge deciding where to go - but I hope you will decide to come spend the day with us. 

 
Here is a picture of Cassidy and Karsten taken at last year's Thanksgiving Day celebration at Deanna and DeWayne's place.  It's hard to believe it was warm enough for short sleeves in late November; hopefully, it will be the same this year!

One more time:

Umphenour Thanksgiving Dinner
Date:  Thursday, November 2
Time:  Noon
Place:  Deanna and DeWayne's Farm
Bring:  A carry-in dish and your appetite

Happy Holidays!