The Last Day of 2007

I wanted it to snow when the kids were here for Christmas, but not one day did it snow. The day after they left just look what we have.

Lola enjoys playing in the snow.

Punkin caught a raccoon this morning.

Bob always plants sunflowers at the end of each row in the garden especially for the birds to enjoy during the winter months. We also have several bird feeders.

Bob dug some parsnips from the garden. He is going to have some for lunch today. I won't be having any. No, I have never tried them, but I'm quite sure I won't like them.

It was a Good Year!

The last day of 2007. It's hard to believe that another year has come to a close and a new year is about to begin. Bob and I have had a wonderful year and have enjoyed traveling, visiting friends and family, and having friends and family come to visit us.

In February Bob and I went to Germany.


Several feet of snow welcomed us on our return home from Germany.


In April Rachael and Derrick adopted a little girl from Russia, Katya.
She is a precious little girl and we love her very much.
She is number sixteen in our increasing grandchildren count.



In May, Natalie and Adam graduated from Andrews University.

In June, Natalie and Adam were married. The wedding was beautiful.

The reception was held at the Blue Dress Barn and was perfect in every way.

Lola has been a part of our family for two years.

She loves being a farm dog.

Punkin Doodles has been with us for nine and a half years.

We got her when she was six weeks old and she has adapted

well to all of her many living environments.

She also enjoys living on the farm and keeping

all critters off her property.

On father's day, Punkin was hit by a car and had to spend

two weeks in the hospital. She has fully recovered and

back to chasing rabbits, raccoons, possums, and skunks.

In July we went backpacking with Bob's two sons

and their families in the Russian Wilderness (California).

Only we let two mules and one horse do the packing.

We just did the walking!

We also enjoyed witnessing the baptism of our oldest grandchild.

While we were in California, we enjoyed visiting Bob's sister, Estelle and her husband Roy, and were excited to find out that Fred and Rita (Bob's brother and sister-in-law) and Darlene and Art (Bob's sister and brother-in-law) were coming for the weekend also. Pictured are Bob's siblings. One sister wasn't able to come for the weekend.

We had a very productive garden this year. We froze over a hundred quarts of corn and at least a hundred quarts of green beans. We canned tomatoes too! We also went and picked grapes and made grape juice for the first time. Also for the first time, Bob tapped our maple trees and after the sap was processed we had 13 gallons of pure maple syrup.

Madeline came several times during the summer to help. She enjoyed getting to pick a pumpkin from grandpa's pumpkin patch.

We were very busy working with the four churches in our district, especially the Roosevelt Church. In November we finished an evangelistic series resulting in eight baptisms and ten more preparing for baptism. Leading up to the meetings we were busy helping with cooking schools, women's Bible study and craft nights, and VBS.

In December, friends from California came to visit.


On December 7, Todd and Lori blessed us with our seventeenth grandchild, Anthony.

Rachael and Derrick and their children came for Christmas!

Ryan and Lisa and their family came for Christmas!

Shannon and Andy and Madeline came for Christmas!
Lori and Todd and Anthony came for Christmas!

We Thank God for the many blessings we were given in 2007.

May God bless each one throughout the New Year!!!

Two Unusual Gifts

Natalie wasn't able to come to New York this Christmas but she sent a gift for me with Lori. She made me the most beautiful ornaments for my Christmas tree.

She also made this Christmas tree candy dish.

Then on Friday I received another package sent by UPS from our children in California. When I opened the box there were several gifts. One of the gifts had my name on it and Deuteronomy 23:13. I couldn't figure out what this was all about, so we got out the Bible and read it. Most of the group couldn't figure out what the verse had to do with the gift and neither could I. But Bob was "dieing laughing". He was quite sure he knew what was in the package. And he was right! Again!!

I hope this doesn't mean that they aren't going to be taking my porta-potty next summer if we go camping again.

Just a Few Thoughts

Well, I'm sitting in my home office blogging again. The house seems so quiet now that the children and grandchildren have left. It was cute to hear Jack say that he wished I lived next door to them. With Rachael and Derrick busy packing, the children and I had a little visit and decided that mom (Rachael) and dad (Derrick) need to plan a trip that doesn't include the kids. That way grandma can come to Michigan so we can P-A-R-T-Y! Just grandma, Kristen, Katya, Jack, and Ben. When we told Rachael and Derrick our idea, they thought it was a great idea and said they would starting working on it. I sure am glad my new vacation days start January 1.

It was so hard for me to say good-bye to the kids this morning. I kept myself busy though, putting my house back together. It looks perfect! All the bed linens have been washed and the beds are made. Everything is dusted and the floors cleaned. It took them four days to rearrange my house. But it only took me a few hours to put everything back in its place. Bob helped!

Saturday Night Activities!!

We continued our Christmas celebrations Saturday evening. Bob had made individual gingerbread houses for all the children to decorate. He made a few extras just in case a few of the adults wanted to decorate some too.

They also enjoyed sampling a few pieces of the candy. When we were all through decorating the houses, Jack asked for a zip-lock baggie and filled it with some of the leftover candy and then placed it in the top of his new sock hat which he then placed on his head and wore the rest of the evening. No one knew why he was wearing his sock hat in the house. And he wasn't telling. We discovered his secret when he went to bed.

The gingerbread houses look so cute and I'll enjoy looking at them and remembering the fun time we had decorating them together.

Next the adults played the white elephant game with each gift wrapped and placed in the middle of the living room floor we took turns drawing a number out of a basket. Number one went first selecting a wrapped gift and opening it. The person with number two could take number one's gift or select from a wrapped gift on the floor. We had a great time switching and opening the gifts. I had number nine and decided to open a package rather than take one that was already open. I got Eternity cologne for men and a $25 gift certificate to Cracker Barrel. I think I did quite well because I stop at every Cracker Barrel on my trips to Michigan. And I can share the gift with Bob. No, he doesn't get part of the Cracker Barrel gift certificate. I'll let him have the cologne.

These are the presents we could select from.

Sabbath Morning

Imagine having eight adults and nine children getting ready for church in the same house. Remember you have to fix breakfast, eat, and clean-up. You also have to shower or take a bath and then get dressed in your best clothes and make sure all hair-do's are appropriate. Then the biggest task is getting everyone loaded in the four vehicles before the parade begins. The biggest problem, Bob's the pastor and we have to be there on time. As I was encouraging the gang to hurry, Todd reminded me that Bob's the pastor and church won't start without him. He felt assured we would all make it to church before it started. With all vehicles loaded we headed out. Bob and I were leading because the others didn't know how to get to the church. Ryan and Lisa had been there before, but were happy to be part of the parade. A mile down the road I remembered I hadn't turned the stove off. I had left the wild rice simmering on the stove top. This caused a problem in turning around. With all the cars stopped, Bob ran to Ryan and Lisa's car and gave them the garage door opener and asked them to go back and turn off the stove. The rest of us continued on to the church. We made it on time!! I quickly entered the church and started playing the piano. It was a wonderful service. Bob introduced the children and grandchildren and said, "I just thought everyone would like to meet the children (some of which have grown-up) in the stories Cecelia tells." Katya and Jack sang for special music. They sang Jesus Loves Me in English, German, and Spanish. You should have heard all the Amen's!! And, this was Anthony's first time to go to church. He was a very good little baby.

When we arrived back home after Sabbath school and church I quickly grabbed my camera and took pictures of each family.


Todd, Lori, and Anthony


Front Row: Jack; Second Row: Katya, Kristen, Rachael, Ben; Third Row: Derrick

Andy, Shannon, and Madeline

First Row: Hannah; Second Row: Matthew and Lisa; Third Row: Ryan, Grace, and little Ryan

No Room In The Inn

We had a full house for our Christmas celebrations. We have ten rooms plus bathrooms and Bob's office and every night, eight of these rooms were being used to rest weary bodies. Shannon and Andy decided they would rather drive back and forth and get a good night's sleep in their own bed. Some slept on beds, some slept on the floor, and some slept on the couch. Ben slept at the foot of Rachael and Derrick's bed on the floor and commented that he had the softest bed ever. There wasn't much unused floor space.

Anthony enjoyed sleeping in grandma's antique baby crib.

Katya slept in the living room floor.

Kristen's bed was on the couch. She brought "Junkie" with her so she didn't need a pillow.

No Shower Yet?

I'm embarrassed to say that it is 1:30 p.m. on Friday and I am still in my pajamas. I just put lunch (broccoli cheese soup) on the table and everyone is eating. I'm on my way to the shower and to get presentable for the rest of the day. I hope to be able to tell you in detail my day so far, but for now, I have to get my shower before the group finishes their lunch and are ready for the next event.

Highlights

Today was filled with laughter and fun times together. I'll let a few pictures tell the story with a few comments just to help explain.

Katya enjoyed sliding down the banister.

Enjoying our "traditional" Christmas dinner.

Matthew made homemade donuts and they were served along with other calorie filled pastries.

Opening presents was the highlight of the day for the children.
Jack playing a game. Notice the ribbon around his head. He loved this bow from one of his presents and promptly placed it on his head.
Uncle Ryan played a new game with Madeline and Hannah.

Kristen, little Ryan, and Matthew played Monopoly.
A rare moment when baby Anthony wasn't being held.

We're getting ready for bed now and looking forward to another day of fun times together.