Remembering Our Fallen Soldiers

Memorial Day

Edgar Guest
The finest tribute we can pay

Unto our hero dead today,

Is not a rose wreath, white and red,

In memory of the blood they shed;

It is to stand beside each mound,

Each couch of consecrated ground,

And pledge ourselves as warriors true

Unto the work they died to do.
Into God's valleys where they lie

At rest, beneath the open sky,

Triumphant now o'er every foe,

As living tributes let us go.

No wreath of rose or immortelles

Or spoken word or tolling bells

Will do to-day,

unless we give Our pledge

that liberty shall live.
Our hearts must be the roses red

We place above our hero dead;

Today beside their graves

we must

Renew allegiance to their trust;

Must bare our heads and humbly say

We hold the Flag as dear as they,

And stand, as once they stood,

to die To keep the Stars and Stripes on high.
The finest tribute we can pay

Unto our hero dead today

Is not of speech or roses red,

But living, throbbing hearts instead,

That shall renew the pledge

they sealed

With death upon the battlefield:

That freedom's flag

shall bear no stain

And free men wear no tyrant's chain.

Our Thanks to all who paid the ultimate price for our Freedom today and loving prayers to the families that let them go.

We will never forget you.

Mothers Day Tea

We enjoyed a surprise Mothers Day Tea party in honor of our Mom

While Mom was at Church, Robin and I set everything up and when she came home she was very surprised!Robin, Myself, Mom, Linda and Kelsey

The table all set

The food table


We had a variety of tea, Blueberry and orange cranberry scones, Chicken salad, egg salad and cucumber finger sandwiches, assorted fresh fruit cookies and tarts. As a remembrance of our day we all got Sweet William flowers to plant in our gardens.

The weather was cloudy, a bit windy and a little cold but we all enjoyed our time together and agreed to make this a Mothers Day tradition from now on!

Happy Birthday Ryan

Ryan turned Three years old!

He loves Finding Nemo so that was the theme for his Birthday party

Finding Nemo Cake

Blowing out his candles

He got alot of toys for his Birthday, Ryan got a Wheelbarrow and some garden tools, a few Dinosaurs, some Diego toys and a new pool for this summer. We had a packed house for his party, almost the entire Family was there from his great, great Grandmother, 2 Great Grandmothers and Grandfathers, Nana and Pop Pop and Mommy to Aunts, Uncles, Cousins and Friends!

Before everyone arrived for his party he was singing Happy Birthday to himself! and when we all sang it to him he got very excited and laughed!

A special day for a very special Boy!

Happy Late Valentines Day

I had to work on Valentines Day so I am a little late in wishing everyone a good day but I hope that the romance of this day is still lingering into your weekend!

Alan came into work on Valentines day and brought me a pretty pink laced, heart shaped box of chocolate, a sweet pink teddy bear, a pink rose and a beautifully sentimental card! he had little notes all tucked around saying how much he loved me!

I thought that was so sweet and the residents at the Assisted Living where I work enjoyed it almost as much as I did, they were still talking about it yesterday!

I loved all the little attention to detail that he so thoughtfully put together, I am blessed to have such a wonderful Man in my life!

Happy New Year!

May this New Year bring us all many Blessings!

2007 has come and gone, We did not accomplish everything that we wanted but still, We had a good year,

We are very Blessed with such a loving Family and very good friends!

In 2008 I hope we can accomplish more work on our house, I want to plant a garden and bring in a good harvest for our family to enjoy, learn new things everyday and become closer to God!

I want to balance all the things that keep us so busy with lots of Love, Laughter and plenty of time to spend with my Grandmother and the rest of our family!

Last but not least, I pray that 2008 will bring us all Peace

and see our Soldiers come home to their families!

Our Trip to Kentucky

We left the morning after Christmas to go to Kentucky for a visit with Alan's Family, it was a 5 1/2 hour drive to get there, we saw some very pretty sights as we traveled through Western Maryland and West Virginia. Ryan slept on the way down and on the way home!
We got to spend a lot of time with the family, Wednesday night we went to church and the family sang for the congregation, Alan's Family is so talented, Jodi played the Piano and the family sang together so beautifully. we went to see the Christmas lights around Ashland and sang some Christmas Carole's to some people that Alan's Mom and Dad knew.
We played games like Monopoly and pass the cup, we watched Facing the Giants and Fly Wheel and we ate a lot of food!
It was so great spending time with everyone and Alan's Mom and Dad did such a wonderful job coordinating everything and making us all very comfortable! It was hard to say good bye and we hope to get together again real soon!

Ryan sleeping on the way there!

Taking a break at a rest stop

Alan's Mom and Cameron

Alan and Cody Playing around!

Trying to give us all a heart attack!

Ryan and Shayanna were inseparable!

and Shared everything!

This is the Family, Debbie, Lawrence, Tori, Josh, Me, Alan,Robin, Ryan,

Gordon, Hettie, Shania,Shayanna, Frank, Cameron, Caleb, Cody, Shadawn and Shanda was taking the picture.

There were 18 family members who could not attend and we missed them all!

Ryan sleeping on the way home!

Merry Christmas

This is the last post I will be able to make until next weekend, We will be Celebrating Christmas with my Grand mother tomorrow and then we leave Wednesday morning to go spend a few days in Kentucky with Alan's family.

From our home to yours, We wish you a very Merry Christmas!

May the Blessings of Christ shine upon You and Your Families as we celebrate the greatest gift ever given to us,

The birth of Jesus!

Christmas with Dad

Dad and Debs Christmas tree!

My Dad and Cierra


Ryan Opening his gifts!
Ryan would not throw any paper on the floor, he would tear off the wrapping and place it in a trash bag!

Amanda, Linda, Kelsey and Bernie

Cierra opening one of her gifts!

Mamaw and Debbie

We Celebrated Christmas at my Dads Last night, I really enjoy the Family all being together, Debbie had everything looking very nice and we had more food to eat, than what we could handle!

Alan got a new jacket and I got a wonderful smelling candle in a perfect country arrangement and a very neat picture of Ryan that looks like the cover of a magazine!

Robin got a similar picture of Ryan and a Necklace which she Loved and some money!

Ryan was so cute opening up all of his gifts, he tried to be neat and would not throw any paper on the floor and he has been enjoying playing with his new truck and tools that he got for Christmas!

It was a very nice evening and Thank You to Dad and Deb for the wonderful gifts but, most important... Thank You for the time spent together!

A Few Christmas Crafts

I thought I would share a few Christmas Crafts that I made for My Self this year! I can not yet put a picture of the crafts I made for my family until after Christmas is over but, these I made for me!

Miniature Mittens for my small country trees!

The pictures did not catch all of the detail though.

I used vintage lace from an old dresser scarf that had seen better days.

And a few have buttons from Ryan's old baby clothes!

This is my first attempt at a crocheted scarf!

I will try to post more pictures after all the gifts have been given out!

12 Things about Me Christmas Hoopla!

I have been Tagged by Peggy at Hidden Haven Homestead to take part in a Christmas Hoopla!

Here are the rules;

1. List 12 random things about yourself that have to do with Christmas.

2. Please refer to it as a Hoopla!

3. You have to specifically tag people at the end of your post, none of this "if you read this, you are tagged" stuff is allowed, then nobody ends up doing it. The number of people you tag is really up to you, but the more the merrier to get this Hoopla circulating through the Bloglosphere.

4. Please try and do it quickly!

Now here are my 12 things about me Christmas Hoopla;

1. Christmas is one of my favorite holidays, I love to give and could really care less about receiving!

2. I love to decorate my house for Christmas

3. I love to bake cookies and make candies

4. I enjoy crafting home made gifts

5. I enjoying spending time with my Family and Friends at this time of year!

6. I am absolutely terrible about waiting to give a gift... I always want to give it before Christmas day!

7. I am not so good at getting my Christmas cards done and sent on time.

8. I enjoy taking rides to look at Christmas lights

9. I really love the church programs around Christmas

10. I listen to Christmas songs everyday starting the day after Thanksgiving and drive my family crazy with them.. tee hee hee!!!

11. I feel blessed that my Grandson lives with us and we get to see his face on Christmas morning!

12. My favorite Christmas movie is A Christmas Story!

That's my list of 12 Christmas things about me Hoopla, I probably could have listed even more!

I tag Loretta and Angelina!

Look What I Got!

Peggy at Hidden Haven Homestead had a stocking swap and My wonderful Partner was Kristie at Insomniac Scrapbook Theater,

Look at all the Wonderful things Kristie sent to me!!!

I am so delighted and Love it ALL!

Kristie had everything packaged with loving care and she had many little surprises tucked inside a beautiful red stocking!

This is the wonderful Stocking that Kristie put together for me!

Filled with so many great items, the cute little teddy bear was made from a dish cloth and had a hand written note attached to his bow!

This is a handmade card and an absolutely beautiful jewelry set that Kristie herself made for me!...I am wearing the bracelet at this moment, I just couldn't wait!

I would recommend a visit to Kristie's Etsy Store!

Kristies Kreations

Here are some wonderful handmade Christmas gift tags that Krisitie made!

Some goodies, a snack mix and candy!



Some candles, which I love and soaps, teas, a Christmas towel and some great potpourri!

Kristie, You gave me a great Gift and I love everything, It is such a wonderful stocking and I could tell that everything you added to it was put there with Loving care!

My Christmas wish list

This is my Christmas wish list!

Alan and my Family have a hard time knowing what I want, so I thought this would help and I thought it would be fun to share!

Click on the pictures to visit Lehman's Country Store!

The food mill would be very handy when I make my Spaghetti sauce and Apple sauce. As of now, I have been using my colander and a wooden spoon, I'm not saying that doesn't work... it did for me but, this would make things much easier!


I have been wanting this book for awhile now. I have read very good reviews about it and I think it would be an interesting read!

What Homestead would be complete with out the Fox Fire series of books!

Wooden Dough bowl

I know these are simple things but, they would help make life a little easier for me!

And for a more personal idea, I would LOVE tickets to see Gaelic Storm in concert!

Most important though, I enjoy spending time with my Family and Friends, and I would enjoy that more than any gift that could be bought!

Thanksgiving Day and Christmas with Mom

The Family all gathered for Thanksgiving and we ate a wonderful meal of Roast Turkey, Mashed Potatoes and gravy, Stuffing, Sweet Potato Casserole, Green Bean Casserole, Corn, Dinner Rolls, Apple sauce and Cranberry sauce. Everyone was so full from dinner that desert did not really get eaten but we had Pumpkin Pie, Apple Pie, cookies and Birthday cake for Robin, TJ and Paul.

Mom and Paul will be leaving for Florida and will not be here for Christmas so we exchanged our gifts with them last night.
Alan, Robin and I made gift baskets for everyone with Home made goodies, Lavender heat packs that I made, Goats milk soap, Home made Potpourri and bath salts, Home canned Apple sauce and Apple butter, Home made Hot Chocolate mix and Home made shake & bake seasoning. We included home made candies and ginger bread men and a prayer rock with a poem.

The gifts we received were very nice!

Amanda made Home made trail mix that is excellent and she had it packaged so pretty! She also made Robin and I a very pretty necklace with stars and moon beads for me and a pretty blue and silver one for Robin.

Mom and Paul gave me a dear daughter locket that is beautiful and some bath items. They gave Alan and I a new piece for our Christmas village set too!

Linda and Bernie gave me a Celtic Christmas CD set and a wonderful smelling candle with a very nice tin star candle holder!

Alan got an Eagle Blanket, a winter hat, Gloves, a couple pair of insulated socks and some axe cologne.

Robin got a necklace and some bath items and money.

Ryan got a few new outfits and alot of toys!

after we opened our gifts everyone put their coats on and we headed off to the barn to see the animals, that was alot of fun! Mom collected the eggs and the Turkeys were a big hit with everyone. they all took turns holding the rabbits and loved the baby rabbits especially.
We had such a wonderful day together with Family, Plenty of food and good times but most important... time spent together!
I wish times like this would last longer and be more frequent throughout the year!

The most unfortunate part of the whole day was that I got so busy I forgot to take pictures, so I don't have any to share.

After everyone left I was so exhausted though and sleep came very easy!

This weekend we plan to bring the Christmas decorations up from the top of the barn and start decorating for our favorite Holiday!

Happy Thanksgiving

Wishing you a day filled with good food, fun and the company of family and friends.

Gingerbread Men

"Run, run, as fast as you can!You can't catch me!I'm the Gingerbread Man!"

Gingerbread Cookies

1 C. shortening melted
1 C. sugar
1 1/4 C. molasses
2 eggs slightly beaten
5-5 1/2 C. flour
1 t. baking soda
1 t. salt
2 t. ginger
2 t. cinnamon
1 t. nutmeg
1 t. cloves
Melt shortening, cool slightly. Add sugar, molasses and eggs and mix well.
Mix flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Add to shortening mixture and mix well to form a firm dough. Knead dough just a little if necessary.
Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface to 1/4 inch thick. Cut out cookies with cutters.
Bake 6-10 minutes at 375°F.
One recipe will yield about 40 average size cookies.

This was a great Family activity!

Thanksgiving Reflections

This is it, the week before Thanksgiving! So much to do, so much to prepare....Its enough to make you feel exhausted just thinking about it!

As I spend this week Cleaning the house and making food to lead up to that Big Dinner day I thought I would sit back, take a deep breath and think about what Thanksgiving day is all about anyway!

Thanksgiving is not just about Turkey and all the yummy food that will grace our tables on Thursday... although that is a very good part of it!

It's not about the big parades or the football game, or even running ourselves ragged to prepare a big feast, Thanksgiving is a day to spend time with our Families and a time to reflect on what true blessings we have been given in our life!

So I will list the 10 things I am most Thankful for;

1. My Family

2. Food on my table

3. A Roof over my head

4. Good Health

5. Good Friends

6. Work to keep me busy

7. Living in the United States

8. Freedom to make my own decisions

9. My Farm Animals

10.life in the country

These are just a few things that I am thankful for, there are so many blessing that we are given in this life, which are often just taken for granted...

Thanksgiving should be a day to gather with Family and Friends, sit down to a good meal that was prepared with the labor of love and reflect on the many Blessings that have often been overlooked on most ordinary days!

Robin and Ryan

My Daughter and Grandson!