exhausted but happy

Wow... what a whirlwind weekend this has been! I am totally exhausted! But MAN WAS IT FUN!!! We began the fun with the first Red Sox vs. Yankees game on Fri. evening as I made apple crisp for the boys, and beef barley soup for the next day. I also watched the Foreign Missions service at General Conference live (at the same time as I listened to the game on the radio). Bro. Scott Graham preached his guts out, and looked as if the anointing may cause him to just explode! WOW! BTW, Red Sox WON!

Sat. morning we had two soccer games, then it was off to Maidstone, VT for a gathering with the Conants/Frechettes/Siebers/Citros/Johnsons/Carters/Mitchells, neighbors, and anyone else I may have missed! We had so much fun! We picked apples, pumpkins, and various other vegetables from Shawn and Judi's garden, pressed MANY gallons of apple cider (yum), walked to the river, did a little sling shot target practice, and watched 8 cousins ages 2-13 play together joyfully and peacefully! Oh yeah, we ate a lot of food, too! That goes with the territory at these family get-togethers! WAY good! Then on the way home, we stopped in St. Johnsbury to check on Ella, Jason's grandmother, who had surgery on Tuesday. She looks great! We got home around 11:30 pm. BTW, Red Sox lost. :(

Sunday, it was off to Enosburg to surprise my mom with a family party for her 60th birhtday (which isn't actually until October 12th). She was totally blown away! It was really fun! We went to mom and Ray's camp after the party and spent the afternoon visiting with family. Then off to church for the evening, which I should say, was very powerful! Once home, I got the boys to bed, and watched an archived service of General Conference I had missed over the busy weekend, and was blessed again! Services this year have been tremendously powerful! BTW, Red Sox KICKED BUTT and earned the wild card playoff spot for the ALCS!!!!!! YEE HAAAA!!!!! GO RED SOX!!! Red Sox rule, Yankees drool!

Anyway, now it is LONG past time for me to be passed out in bed... gotta get up early! Bless you all! Will post again soon! Will add pictures next time!

RED SOX RULE!!!!!!!!!

YES!!!!!!! Red Sox WIN!!!!! We are tied for first with the Yankees, with 2 games left! The electricity is incredible! The anticipation may kill me! JEFF!!!! I know you are listening down in Texas! RED SOX RULE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YANKEES DROOL!!!!!

General Conference

Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow!!!!!!!!! My super wonderful mother in law gave me a wonderful birthday gift! Our church's general conference is in Richmond, VA this year. Those of us who could not attend are basically attending online, viewing the services online live, or watching them later in the archives.

WOW. The preaching is so incredibly powerful and anointed, we are just having church right in our living rooms! Worshipping right along with everyone else, as if really there! The Foreign Missions service I just finished watching live was powerful and deep in a way I cannot even explain with words. God is so amazing....

Thank you Julie! The gift of internet access to General Conference will have life changing effects on me for years to come! I love you!!!!

PS... the previous post about the crazy frog video was removed by me because of the host website, Jamster. They have some VERY inappropriate video material on their website, and I don't want anyone linking to it because of MY link! That would be bad. Sorry!

Trip to Maine

Our trip to Maine was so wonderful on many different levels! We had a safe trip, and just a great time visiting with my sister and grandparents. We went apple picking with my sister and her oldest son Saturday. This also involved tricycle races... my sister is a kid at heart! Check out the pictures below:


Bean picking apples


Alex picking the high apples!


The Three Muskateers: Alex, Adam, and Nick


The wagon ride to the orchard


Let the tricycle races begin!

Wheelie wipeout in the third turn!


Nick resting in the apple tree


Her younger son wasn't home all weekend, he was at the Highland games, because he thinks he is Scottish, and has the entire outfit (minus the shoes) to prove it! He loves the bagpipes and can jig like nobody's business! Hee hee hee! My 8 year old nephew is so cute in a kilt!

We also spent time watching the RED SOX KICK BUTT with my grandparents. My grandmother thinks Johnny Damon needs a haircut. It's true, he does, but he is one amazing baseball player, long hair or not! YAY! I love my grandparents. They are truly very very special people.



GO JOHNNY!


We also went to visit my friends Allan and Rhonda. They are currently trying to revive a wounded, dying church, and we spent 3 hours talking with them about what our church has been through and how long the recovery took, and how the Scriptures talk about "when you strike the shepherd, the sheep scatter." Rhonda cried as the Holy Ghost ministered by confirming things that she and Allan had been going through, talking about, and praying about. Allan was very encouraged. He is the one giving the sermons (with two others, I believe) and he is merely the treasurer/lay leader in this little congregation of 20 or so people. That is a very difficult task, and I admire him for following the leading of the Holy Ghost and trying to bind up the wounds of the saints and minister love, strength, and encouragement to them. He is reaching out, which is a sign of healing. The wounded usually turn inward. They attend the Church of Christ. Pray for them!

And the last exciting thing that happened was when we went to church Sunday morning. I just want to stop here and say how much I appreciate Bro. and Sis. Bell, the pastor / wife of the Apostolic Church of Jesus Christ in Portsmouth, NH. I love attending their church when we go home to visit my family! Everyone there is like family - so kind and loving! WE LOVE YOU GUYS!!! The best part about THIS visit was when we were in the parking lot just after arrival. A car pulled in, braked and parked right in the middle of the parking lot, and a lady jumped out hollering, "Don't you recognize me?? It's ME!!!" She was crying! It was my dear sweet sister in the Lord Maggie Martin!!! FROM VERMONT!!! She threw her arms around me and hugged me to death! I did not even know she had moved from VT (she attended the church in Barre). She is now living in S. Berwick and attending church at Bro. Bell's church! She was so thrilled to see familiar faces from home! We sat together, worshipped together, and got caught up on things after service. God always knows what each day holds... I think He was excited, knowing what was going to happen, anticipating Maggie's joy. What a neat God we serve!

Our big birthday bash dinner with me, my sister, and my grandmother was fun. We went to Bugaboo Creek Steak House. The kids had a blast! They have a talking buffalo, a talking tree, singing fish, raccoons that poke their head out of a barrel and look around, and all kinds of fun stuff like that. When the singing waiters and waitresses came out with our birthday cakes, they had a giant stuffed moose head that each birthday person had to kiss (yuck). We all enjoyed just being together. Here are a couple of pictures:


The boys showing off their root "beer bottles"



Dinner with the fam at Bugaboo Creek

We ended our trip with a stop at Chuck E. Cheese. The boys were thrilled and very well behaved and grateful.


Adam racing at Chuck E. Cheese


Nick dirt biking at Chuck E. Cheese


Adam the masked wonder, displaying his treasures


Look how many tickets I won, Mom!

The food there leaves a lot to be desired, but they had a great time! One dad there had on a t-shirt that said, "I'm having and out-of-money experience". Amen!


Whew! That is it for this post (long enough for ya??) You think this is bad, wait until we come home from our Christmas trip to Maryland! I am confident that many things happened in the spiritual realm during this trip. I will be praying for the fruits to come forth.

Heading to Maine

Hello all! We are all packed and ready to head to Maine. Just need to wait for 3:00 so we can pick the kiddos up from school and hit the road. I have done an unusually large amount of praying this morning regarding this trip. My 6 year old son told me this morning with a strange look on his face, as we waited for the bus, "Mom, something doesn't feel right." I asked him, "Do you feel sick?" He said, "No, I mean something doesn't feel right about this day." So we prayed and I asked Jesus to be with him at every moment of the day, protecting him, and giving him comfort. When we finished praying, he looked me square in the eyes and said, "I'm scared." God have mercy. He is 6 years old. THEN, I went to take my older son to school and ran into a friend. I told her we were going to Maine, and she got a panicked look on her face. She proceeded to tell me a friend of hers just got back from Maine and her 9 year old daughter contracted that EEE equine encephalitis deal from mosquitoes while there, and she was in Boston Children's hospital in a coma. That alone wouldn't bother me, but I also have dear friends (whom I will be visiting this weekend) who attend church and a 4 year old boy from their church is also in Boston Children's hospital for the same reason... in a coma for over a month now... and my friend's reaction coupled with that information and my son's "sense of danger"... it has caused me to bathe this weekend in much prayer. So anyone reading this post this weekend, PLEASE pray for us! I really want to go and relax and enjoy the company of my sister and grandparents. I have invested already in DEET insect repellant.

I also want to share the gospel with my grandparents while I am there. I always pray for the boldness and the opportunity to do this, and in the end, I leave without having approached the subject with them. PLEASE pray for me! They are 88... I may not have any opportunities left after this! Pray that they will receive the word and act on it!

Well, that is it for now. I am up to my eyeballs in cub scout stuff... Bye!

Official den mother

Well, it's official. Tonight at the pack meeting, I became the official co-den mother of the Pack 635 tiger cubs. It's okay. We're going to have tons of fun! I have lots of pictures for you to see this evening. First of all, I will share pictures of Adam and Nick with their "raingutter regatta" boats. It was pretty cool. They had 4 raingutters full of water, and two big box fans to blow the boats down the gutters in a race to the finish! Neat!


Adam's boat (#8)

Nick's boat (#25)


Turn on the fans and let the race begin!


THEN, we ended the meeting with the "mashed potato song". It goes to the tune of "Allouette". This is a song they learned at Camp Sunrise this summer... Sing with me!

Chorus
Mashed potatoes, I love mashed potatoes
Mashed potatoes, they're the food for me.

Do you have them in your hair?




(Sing chorus after each question with picture)

Do you have them in your ears?




Do you have them in your armpits?




Do you have them in your shoes?




Do you have them in your socks?




Do you have them in your shirt?




Do you have them on your face?







Mashed potatoes, I love mashed potatoes
Mashed potatoes, they're the food for me.

LOL! Jason was a huge hit with the cubs, and Adam had tons of fun smothering his dad in stinky mashed potatoes! Having boys is just the best!!!