Christmas 2012: Day 4 & 5

Ah...finally Christmas Eve had arrived. We started out our morning by searching the web for a present for Dave and Anne (better late than never). Shortly, thereafter, Dave took us to see the Shrine. The Shrine has fifteen stations of the Passion of Christ and it took us about an hour to walk it. The weather was a bit on the chilly side due to the wind.

After touring the Shrine, we went to the mall, where we sucked down a warm mocha and ate a soft, salty, warm pretzel. We did a little more Christmas shopping and then headed back to the house to chill before meeting the Bafias for dinner.

The Bafia's are friends of the Vaughns and they were gracious enough to invite us all over for Christmas Eve dinner. Joe is Polish, and it is their custom to serve a traditional Polish meal on Christmas Eve. We ate potato and sauerkraut perogies, fish, green beans, macaroni & cheese and a few other items I can't recall. They also had served some yummy cookies and peppermint bark, too! (Yes, I did indulged!)

After spending a couple hours with the Bafia's, we headed back to the house to open up Christmas gifts. Steve and I received this nice piece from the Vaughns:

The night was cut short as we had to get up early to leave for the airport. The time we spent with the family was wonderful. It had been four years since we had seen everyone, so it was definitely time to get together.

I really appreciated having Dad Vaughn there with us as I can't remember ever a time when we all were together for Christmas. On several occasions, when my eyes gazed upon him, I couldn't help but see a grandpa who was enjoying every minute with his sons and grandchildren. The big grin on his face really said it all! It truly blessed my soul!

Christmas Day was spent driving to O'Hare International Airport, sitting on the tarmac for 2 hours, and finally arriving home (after picking up Levi) a little after 6pm. We praise the Lord for giving us good travel and safety. He protected us from all the weather patterns that threatened to hit the area prior to our arrival and after our departure. I praise God that he takes care of even the smallest details in our lives. Another blessing was Dad Vaughn was able to fly in and out of Chicago, on standby - during the Christmas holiday without any serious delays. Truly we have been blessed this Christmas season.

Christmas Trip 2012: Day 3

Day three was the most relaxing of all the days. Our day started out by attending church, then we watched the Bears beat Arizona, ate some yummy pizza for dinner and finished the evening by watching some classical Christmas movies.

The Vaughn's also own a few animals of their own. They have two cats and two dogs. This is Big Lou.

Big Lou loves to come sit on your lap, knead and purr as loud as possible. When he gets comfortable enough, he starts to lick you. Unbeknownst to me, as the cat was licking my sweater (at least that is what I thought he was doing), I looked down to see that he was instead eating my hair! Yes folks, he ate a two inch section of my hair! To his credit, I think he would make a fine hair dresser, as my layers seem to blend effortlessly. :)

This is a picture of Wheezly. Wheezly loves to take baths. Every morning when we let him in the room he would dash into the bathroom and get in the tub and stick his head under the slowly dripping faucet. One thing is for sure, he is a very clean cat and has the longest legs I have ever seen.

Bowzer is Tony's childhood dog and what a sweet dog he is. He loves attention and there is never enough to give him. When it is time for him to go to bed he just meanders down the hall and snuggles into his bean bag. Adorable!

The last animal they have is Cocoa. Cocoa is a poodle mix and is still full of much energy and mischief. Cocoa loves attention as much as Bowzer, if not more. But Cocoa needs therapy. The dog has a chocolate fetish (hmmm... maybe that is why his name is Cocoa?). Cocoa is not partial to whose chocolate he will eat or what brand it may be. While we were there he managed (with his other partners in crime) to swipe some of dad's chocolates off the coffee table and get this...dug a Christmas gift out of our luggage, dragged it to the stairs and worked the chocolate out of the bag, the wrapper and then demolished the chocolate.

Here is a picture of him when he patiently waits for his momma to return home. He loves his momma!

One thing is for sure, these animals are FULL of PERSONALITY!!

One more day to share...stay tuned.

Christmas Trip 2012: Day 2

We finally arrived in Lowell a couple hours later. It didn't take us long to get settled in for the night so we could catch up on some zzzzzzzz's.

Saturday morning we went to a candy factor called Albanese; what an amazing place!It was filled with every kind of candy imaginable and people, too! A few pics were snapped: a decorated tree, some of the family, part of the chocolate fountain and Steve and I with Rudolph.

Dave wanted to take us to the Shrine of Christ's Passion, but we decided to push that tour off to another day. While nearby, he showed us a modern day Nebuchadnezzar instead. This statue is known as the Lady of the New Millennium. Apparently, her new home will be located at the Shrine. It is huge people! She stands 34 feet tall.

Afterwards we headed home for dinner. Shayna made a wonderful meal and surprised me with a birthday cake. Everyone sang "Happy Birthday" to me. The singing was good, but the cake was even better! Thanks Shayna girl!

The rest of the evening we just chilled out and enjoying each others company.

To be continued...yet again....

Christmas Trip 2012: Day 1

This year Steve and I decided it was time for us to go and visit our family from the Midwest. Our trip was short, but we sure did pack a lot into the few days that we did have.

Since we got in so late, we opted to stay at the Double Tree Hotel for the night. This is the foyer of the hotel. Before we headed up to our room the desk clerk gave each of us a warm chocolate chip cookie (not pictured)...yummy!

This room was plenty big for three, as Steve's dad joined us for our Christmas adventure. Dad got the sofa bed and we took the king.

Friday morning we knew our day would be busy as we planned on picking up my sister, visiting two high school friends, and then heading to Indiana to spend the holiday with Steve's brother and family. With dad in tow, we left the rental car place and headed for the burbs.

We picked up my sister and drove into Hampshire to meet Steve's old high school friend, Valerie and family. I met Valerie back in 1980 for a brief time, in the mall parking lot with Steve. Valerie is very energetic and her children are sweet and talented too! The boys were gracious and played the violin and piano for us. They did a great job!

Our next stop was in Hebron where we met up with Kim and her family. I've known Kim since the 8th grade and the last time I had seen her was during our 20th high school reunion, nearly a decade ago. She has an absolutely adorable family,a beautiful home and knows how to bake some delicious cookies!

We finally dropped Teri off at her house and while there we got to see our nephew Chuck. It had been quite sometime since we had seen him and he is looking pretty good as well.

Our final destination for the evening was Lowell, Indiana where we planned to spend the holiday with Steve's brother Dave and his family.

To be continued...

LBF 2012

Tonight was our Ladies Bible Fellowship, and as always, December is full of fun! This evening we got to hear from the Word of God, do a fun craft and have our annual cookie/candy exchange.

The Fellowship Hall was decked out in snow and snowflakes, and go figure, the devotion tonight was on snow! Did you know that snow is actually mentioned in God's Word many times over? Definitely worth the time to do a more in depth word study!

After the devotion and sharing praises and prayer request the ladies began to diligenty work on the craft at hand - making a snowman or in my case, a snow-woman. This craft was done many, many years back. I was so glad to get to the opportunity to do the craft again because my first snowman has been without a helpmeet for way to long!

So, I set my mind to making him a mate. As you can see below, the two have successfully been united. Let me just mention, that this snow-woman was way more difficult to work with than the snowman...just saying! :)

Taking a break from my ever growing stressful project, I managed to get over to the kitchen and fill a plate full of many yummy treats. All the cookies and candy looked wonderful, but it was these Christmas mice that caught my attention. Aren't they just the cutest things? I can't wait to try one!

The ladies in charge of the decorating, the crafting and bringing items to snack on did a SUPER-FANTASTIC-MARVELOUS job. Thanks for all the hard work. The evening was a lot of fun!

Christmas Time is in the Air

Over the last couple of years, my get up and go - got up an went when it came to Christmas. It seemed to be such a hassle and drag to pull out all of our Christmas decorations; especially, since it would just be the two of us.

But this year, seems different.

I didn't have to go to work the day after Thanksgiving, and since I had no desire to be anywhere near a shopping mall or store, I began to think about the month of December and a discussion I had with a dear friend. It wasn't much longer after that, that I asked Steve to haul in the Christmas decorations.

It took most of the day, but we managed to set up six Christmas trees, decorations to boot and some outdoor lights. Even at this moment, as I pen this post, I still wonder where all my desire, motivation and energy came from.

Out of the six trees we have, one still needs to be decorated with its lights and ornaments. It is the biggest tree of all, and since I will need Steve's assistance putting on the lights, it will have to wait until Saturday.

Here are a few photos of what has been completed. The photos may be a little dark, but that is because I didn't want to turn on any additional lights.

This tree is in the entry way. If you look past the tree and out the side windows you will see our outdoor blue lights. I love the blue hue that comes from these bulbs.

These evergreen tree surround the fireplace.

This little evergreen tree is nestled in one of the corners in the livingroom.

This is my most favorite spot so far. The dining room houses two evergreen trees lit with white lights. I think it is my favorite area because it feels so warm.

I will post a few more pictures afte we get the big tree decorated downstairs.

AND....I will also post a couple of pics I took at my workplace. I had such a bug to decorate I didn't stop with just my house. :)

Basket Full of Blessings

Well we are only five days into November and God has already filled my basket full of blessings:

1) I got to vote! To vote is an honour and priveledge that every American should recognize and DO! So make sure you make it to the polls tomorrow! Don't miss out on the opportunity to let your voice be heard.

2) My car has been making some strange, unidentifiable noises lately. So when I took it in for its regular oil change, I asked the service department to give the car a look over. PTL! They couldn't find anything amiss. So whatever noises I've been hearing... are either in my mind, or I'll just have to wait for whatever it is, to break. :)

3) After a month of R&R, Pastor Sargent is back in the pulpit! PTL!! God gave him two wonderful messages yesterday that were such a blessing to my soul.

In the morning he taught on the feeding of the 5,000, out of the Gospel of John. Briefly, he mentioned 3 types of people in this miracle: the multitude, the twelve disciples and the lad. Jesus saw the multitude as sheep without a shephard, the twelve saw them as a problem and the lad was willing to give his all to the Lord.

Our church just came out of a Missions Conference and Pastor challenged us using this miracle. There are roughly 7 billion people in the world today, with 42% that have yet been reached for Christ. What is our attitude towards them? Will we give of ourselves? Of our wealth so they can hear the good news?

The evening message was on How to Take a Stand for Christ. Pastor preached from Daniel 1:1-21. He clearly showed what Daniel and his three friends went through as they were deported from Jerusalem to Babylon and then to be mentally and spiritually manipulated/brainwashed. Thankfully, Daniel had purposed in his heart to take a stand for Christ, he had prepared his heart diligently while in Jerusalem, by praying and reading God's Word. So when the trials came later, he was prepared to take a stand without being demanding or obnoxious.

His results can work for us too: God will honour our life in this world if we purpose to take a stand for him. God will use us in this world; especially, if we are in his Word, seeking his face daily, praying and memorizing scriptures. We will impact others and people will know who to turn to in time of need.

As the month goes on I am sure there will be many more blessings to report. What praises or blessings can you share that God has bestowed upon you recently?

October Highlight

October flew in as fast as it is flying out. I will have to say the highlight for October was my church's 2012 Missions Conference. Bible Baptist Church flew in Brother Bernardo from the PI to be this years guest speaker. He was such a tremendous blessing, a powerful reader of the Word and shared his personal salvation testimony!

What was amazing about his testimony is that he was saved through the ministry of Evangelist Wayne Walley many, many years ago. His first hand account of how the Lord used Brother Walley, and his mom, to bring him to the Lord was extremely fascinating. When a church sends out a missionary they hear of those who get saved, but very rarely do they get to meet someone that was led to the Lord through the work of their missionary.

You can tell how much Brother Bernardo loves the Lord and loves his Pastor, Brother Walley. I am so glad God called the Walley's to the PI, and am very glad that God saw fit to have BBCOH be their sending church.

I know one day, whether it be here on the earth or in heaven, I will meet more folks who have been led to the Lord by Brother Walley and Brother Bernardo. It truly will be an exciting day!

His testimony and love for the Lord was truly a blessing to my soul.

Fall Trip 2012 Snapshot

If you've been wondering why I've been quite lately it is because Steve, Levi (the dog) and I got away for a couple of weeks and went to visit my mom.

Levi was ready to go! He was freshly groomed (never cut so short before), had his health vaccinations and dowst with Frontline - all made for an unhappy pooch. But nonetheless, he was happy to be able to go! This was the first time Levi had ever flown.

Levi is a very social dog and likes to be in the know; so it wasn't uncommon to see him peaking out of his pet carrier. After a couple days at moms Levi began to get real comfortable.

Levi also got to meet his cousin Sassy for the second time. The first time, Levi was just a puppy. While away, Levi celebrated his 10th birthday.

Not only did Levi have a birthday, but my mom did too! She turned 79 years old! She was kind enough to pose for us in her new wild print PJ's. She is so cute!

Not only did Steve have a list of things to do (which kept him busy and made him happy), he was able to sell my dad's mill while we were there. This was a tremendous blessing and lifted burden!

Steve and I were also able to run every other day, which was great because the weather was nice. Some may think we were crazy to run in 90 degree temperatures, but we loved it! Sweat, sweat and more sweat - just kept pouring off us.

While we were there we were able to attend services at Heritage Baptist Church, visit with my aunt, wash windows, change out bathroom and kitchen faucets, troubleshoot mom's computer, mow the lawn, trim bushes, get a quote to fix the driveway, take Sissy (the Lab) to the vet, and made an attempt to annihilate some pesty bugs that were stripping leaves off the backyard bushes.

Finally, I can't say enough about mom's cooking! She is the best cook ever! And as always, each dinner was fabulous! Isn't this the strangest bird you have ever seen?

Before we knew it, it was time to say goodbye. I sure do love my momma!

The day we left to head back home, storms were brewing. Both of our flights were delayed, but God got us home by 2:30 in the morning. I don't think it took us too long before lights were out! Great trip!

We've Been Busy

Over the last few Saturdays, we had the privledge of putting to work two young straping McDowell boys. These hard chargers dived into an area of ground full of overgrown growth that had a root system that could be liken to the human body and all its highways of veins and arteries. Thankfully, they made the job look extremely easy.

This is a picture of the area after they were finished. The only thing left for Steve and I to do was to trim the butterfly bushes and prune the roots the boys couldn't pull up.

This past Saturday, the boys came back and helped Steve lay a yard of dirt, plant some shrubbery and topped it off with 2 more yards of mulch. The following pictures show the finished look. It was a lot of hard work, but the time and energy spent was worth it!

Now all we need to do is enjoy the yard, listen to the birdies and do some grilling on the barbie before fall sets in.

Thank you young men for all of your hard work. You've made this lady very happy!

You Gotta Get One of These

Over the last three years I have wanted to purchase a Sonicare Toothbrush. And every time I was sure to go and purchase one, either Steve would talk me out of it, or I would decided it wasn't worth the money. Well, I am here to tell you it is worth the money! I have never felt such clean gums and teeth and the feeling of cleanliness last all day long. This particular Sonicare is sold at the dentists office. We even scored a $15 rebate. If you've been debating on getting one of these awesome toothbrushes...don't wait...just do it! You will be happy you did!

Summer Camp 2012

Every year Steve heads out with our youth for Summer Camp. Steve took a lot of pictures, but these two pictures in particular represent Steve's love for things:

Steve loves a challenge.

Steve loves fire. Do you see the marshmallows?

Meeting Some Very Special Ladies

A couple of days ago, Pastor asked me if I would take the Thursday afternoon Bible Study. I was kind of in shock when he asked me, because there are usually many men who are readily available to take this particular study time. In this instance, none of the men were available; which led to my opportunity to go and do a devotion with these ladies.

The ladies I met today where just absolutely a delight to be with. I met Nancy (67), Iris (87), Oreo (85), Lena (95) and one other very sweet lady (93). If you ever want your soul blessed, just spend an hour with ladies who have lived and done many things in their life time and for the Lord. It just blesses the soul!

I cannot help but give all the thanks and praise to the Lord for giving me this opportunity. I really feel like he answered my prayer Sunday night by letting this vessel be used for his honour and glory. Thank you Lord!

Independence Day

Yesterday was such a great day for me because I spent it relaxing with Steve and not feeling like I was tied to the clock. We stayed in bed about an hour longer than we normally do, putted around the house for a bit, went to Walmart and picked up some plants and potting soil, stopped at Albertsons to get some salads to go with our dogs and of course, last stop was Whidbey Coffee where we shared a frozen mocha (yummers!).

We got back home and planted the flowers we picked up, replanted a snow ball bush from the front yard to the back because it just wasn't growing the way it was suppose to and then finished cleaning up the debris I had raked up last week.

Wednesday night church service had a patriotic flare to it. The fellowship hall was decked out in 4th of July decorations (thank you Ms. Susan for doing a fantastic job!), and Brother Jim was the man behind the grill who cooked up some mighty tasty dogs. Each family brought their own sides.

After everyone was finished eating and things were tidied up, the evening service began. We stayed in the fellowship hall for the service. Steve led us in Patriotic songs and Pastor Geist brought a message from the Bible on independence, dependence and interdependence.

We even had visitors from southern Illinois who stayed and enjoyed the fellowship and service.

I love the history of our country and appreciate the sacrifice of those who gave of their lives and possessions to fight for the freedoms we have today. But most of all, I thank God for the love, understanding and deep respect our founding fathers had for the Almighty God. Those men knew it was nothing short of miracles from God, that gave this country protection and its independence from Great Britain.

I thank and praise the Lord for all the men and women who have and who are serving in our Armed Forces to keep the freedoms that you and I enjoy today.

May the Lord spank Washington D.C. and all the leaders who are doing everything they can to bring the American people into bondage with their socialistic agenda.

I pray America and her citizens will wake up and see that the very freedoms those men fought for so long ago, are slowly and deceitfully being taken away from us.

Oh Lord, please send a revival to this once great nation of ours, I pray!!

Bible Prophecy: True and Amazing in Every Way

Pastor Sargent has been preaching a series in the book of Revelation on Wednesday nights. The messages have been fantastic and mesmerizing. If you have ever wondered about Prophecy and would like to hear the messages, then go to http://www.bbcoakharbor.org and then click on "Sermons", then "Launch Sermon Player". God has truly given Pastor Sargent the ability to understand the Bible, and then be able to regurgitate doctrine in a way all can comprehend it.

Back in 1998, Steve and I were going through the Bible Training Institute at Bible Baptist Church. We had to take a course on Bible Prophecy and Pastor Sargent was the instructor. The topic was extremely fascinating to me back then, but even more so now. One of the assignments for class was to design a Bible Prophecy Chart(mind you this chart was done by hand so it's pretty rough compared to what computer assisted charts look like today)that chronologically laid out the coming prophetic events. It was quite the task, but very rewarding in the end. Below is a picture of the chart I drew back then:

It is kind of exciting to be able to pull out my old chart and follow along. A great memory!

We recently got together at El Cazador for lunch and had a wonderful time. I really appreciate these ladies, but I especially love to see Robin, as I usually don't get to visit with her too many times throughout the year. As I look at these lovely gems, I can't help but reflect back to when God introduced them into my life. It has almost been seventeen years (it is a good thing I had some toes left). Praise the Lord for the godly friendships he has given me while here on this earth!PTL!

Date Night - Couple's Style

About six months ago a lovely family in our church gave Steve and I a beautiful Christmas Basket filled with many wonderful treats (i.e. candles, jams, etc). Also in that basket was a gift certificate for the Chuckanut Manor.



Steve and I have never been to the Chuckanut Manor, so we were excited about finally making reservations to go there for dinner. We also decided to ask another couple to come along with us.

If you have never been to the Chuckanut Manor you have to go! REALLY! The scenery is spectacular (even when it is overcast and rainy), the service was marvelous and the food was excellent! The guys opted for Steak and Friteas and the gals were undecided so they opted to share two meals - the Crab Mac 'n Cheese and the Halibut and Fries. Everyone's meal was fantastic! [And let me just say, if you are looking for a restaurant that serves seafood, this is the one.] :)

After dinner we had some great tasting coffee and split a dessert.



The cheesecake was amazing and splitting it three ways was perfect (Yes, there was one person who had the amazing ability not to cave in and eat dessert)!

In the end, no one felt like they needed to be rolled out of the Manor in a wheelbarrow and for that I am thankful.

So a big hearty THANK YOU goes out to the family who gave us the gift certificate and another big THANK YOU goes out to the family who was brave enough to go to dinner with us. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! We had so much fun!

Freshening Up the Backyard

Yesterday afternoon the outdoor temperature (low 70's) combined with the sunshine motivated me to get down to the store and purchase some flowers to freshen up the backyard with. The color variation and flower choices were overwhelming, but after strolling the garden center for nearly an hour, I finally made some choices and came home.

Before I could plant them I had to do some ground work. I pulled out old plants that had died, trimmed the rhododendrons, as they were WAY OUT OF CONTROL, cut back some wild rose bushes that are growing in the yard, and raked up the pine cones and dead leaves that had fallen from the trees. Once this dastardly deed was completed, I was able to get those new, beautiful, vibrant and refreshing plants into the ground. The end results screams SUMMER!

Almost four hours later I dragged this worn out body into the house and collapsed. Yard work is EXHAUSTING and I think every BONE in my BODY was ACHING. I was SO spent!!!

Thankfully, I got all the yard work done just before the rain moved in. God's timing couldn't have been any better for these newly relocated plants. Once the weather clears up, which may be a few days from now, I will update this post with some pictures.

Updated 7/3/2012: Here are the pics I said I'd post:

Now all I need to do is purchase some mulch and it should complete the look.