Happy Birthday Grant!

Happy 14th Birthday to my baby boy, Grant!

We celebrated a night early by going out to eat at his favorite restaurant. He brought his girlfriend, K, with him. Aren't they cute? They held hands on their way to get ice cream too!

My wild, crazy, handsome boy!

It was just yesterday that he was this tiny, wasn't it?

Happy Birthday Grant!!

Favorite Foto Friday #58 - SILLY SMILES!

The many smiles of Bug... when you ask her to smile, sometime you get this...



Then it progresses...


Then she starts to work it...


Then it shines!


And... her newest smile... what I call the "Beaver Teeth" smile shown here with some attitude!


Here is Mr. Linky!!! Link Away!! If you need directions, please refer here.



Since it is officially FALL, next week's theme is "SUMMER MEMORIES"... post your favorite pictures from the summer! And a bonus... pick ONE that summarizes your summer the best!

My Little Brothers

These are my little brothers... Tyler, on the left is 25 and Cooper on the right is 22. I don't get to see them very often but love them more than anything in this world! So, tell me... does Bug not resemble my family? I am the recessive gene pool of the family... the only one with fair skin, blonde hair and blue eyes.

They came to our rescue this past week to deliver our dad's generator to us so that we could run a fan and have some lights on... and as luck would have it... we got power back 48 hours later... LOL!

Edited to add a picture of my other little brother, Kent. He is 36 and rarely lets his picture be taken.



Wanna know something else cool... they even let me be their "friends" on Facebook! Yes... I joined the masses and am giving it a try... still figuring it all out! Love all the flair but what is this virtual sea garden and green patch thing? ha ha ha

Wordless Wednesday & Freebie for Christmas

OK.. not so wordless... please check out The Carlson Family Blog. They are in Utah and are offering FREE Custom Made Christmas Card digital files (meaning you print them) for getting the word out about their Jack and Jill Photography business.

Gotta love nice and talented people sharing themselves during the miracle of the season. In these hard economic times, every little bit helps.

Opening Your Hearts...

My friends, Julia & Kerry, just returned from an emotional and life changing mission trip to Guatemala. Please take a moment to read Julia's post and see if there is a way you can help the children left behind as orphans in Guatemala.

Edited... my friend, Holly, has such a way with words. She gave permission for us to edit, copy and paste this to get the word out... please do not miss the picture at the bottom.

Many of us have been to Guatemala. Poverty was all around us yet we didn't know how to help. There are various organizations and opportunities that we are finding, supporting and STARTING!

Now that Guatemala has halted adoptions there is nowhere for the orphans to go. Babies are being left in grocery stores, children roam the streets looking for food. People who had orphanages and cared for these children have sent the kids away or simply put them on the streets and closed their doors because they are not making money any more.

What if this was our child or children? I think about this everyday. Where would they be right now? Would they be selling beads to tourists in Antigua. Would they be sitting on the side of the road by themselves, left there with a cup for people to put money in? Would they be picking the lice out of each other's hair in between begging at the supermarket only to be shoo'd away by a security guard? This IS real.

My friends Julia and Kerry have started a missionary called Global Orphan Team and right now they are focused on the orphans of Guatemala. GOT has already made two trips to Guatemala and distributed countless items and food to the orphans.

Holly was on the phone with Julia the other night and asked her what they needed? Clothes? Toiletries? Julia said, "They need FOOD". She said that the orphanages she went to didn't even ask for clothes or toys or toiletries. They need food just to keep these children alive.

Global Orphan Team is giving us the chance to help these children. All of the money you donate will go towards helping these children survive. They are a non-profit organization and can give you a receipt for any donation that you make.

Please go to JuJu's Blog and read her post and seriously consider donating. None of us like asking people to donate money but this is something that is so incredibly needed! These ladies are doing something amazing.

When you look at the picture below, can you just imagine if those precious babies were one of our own kids? Add to that, they don't have the arms of a mommy or daddy to wrap around them when they are hungry or happy or sad? The situation for orphans in Guatemala is DIRE!

This is reality!

Missed Me??

{imagine the song "I've Got Candy" playing in the background}

WE'VE GOT POWER! DUM DE DUM DUM DUM! WE'VE GOT POWER!!

Have every single light in the house on, the AC cranked, the computer buzzing, first load of two weeks worth of stinky laundry in the washer and the dishwasher going! Woohoo!! Life is GOOD!!

I am so exhausted... heading to bed... in the dark. LOL!

Thanks for coming Ike... good riddance!!

Unplugged

UPDATE: 10pm EST and WE HAVE POWER!!! Hallelujah!!!!



Still without power... 9 days and counting. Who knew that a hurricane could hit so far north in an area so unprepared to deal with the repurcussions?

Very stressed and cannot establish a routine while waiting for power to be restored. Schools back in session today! Yeah!! That will help with more of a predictable schedule for the kids.

My mother almost died from an accidentaly blood pressure medicine overdose over the weekend... she is doing better now. Thank goodness her husband found her in time. Needless to say, she has fired her doctor who made this almost fatal mistake.

I feel like I am living a Calgon commercial and it is lasting longer than the show I am trying to watch! Will be back to blogging soon and I can't wait! Miss everybody! Can't wait to go back and read everybody's FFF HOPE posts!!

Say a prayer for us and many many other families who are still without power in Kentucky, Ohio, Texas and New Orleans... I am sure there are many more that are struggling even worse than we are.