blue and gold...blue and gold....blue and gold never gets old.....boys again made their opi and omi so proud....they baked space cakes and j won first prize for his den, t not this year but has won twice in the past. dinner was yummy and it was just plain old fashion fun to eat and gossip and eat some more. b did an awesome job handing out awards and what was so touching was how special he makes each boy feel...he also gave a speech about t and his den, stating this was there last year and they were already done with all the requirements and can now move up to boy scouts and that even if they didn't go on they were boys who would go on to be great men.......move me to tears....t is growing up to fast and there is nothing i can do to slow it down so i better enjoy each and every second he wants to spend with his old omi.....(lesson learned= enjoy the small stuff ...now before it never is again)

ok so this valentines day 02-14-13 was another event I get to cross off my bucket list..... it started out with a call the night before and the caller (mel) letting me know i was off the next day and didn't have to babysit  my two amazing grandsons whom i adore  spending time with (woot woot) but time off is time off....... so i stayed up late and slept in.....somewhere around 8:30am i nudged mr. m to tell him he had slept in and better get going.....he just smiled ...."whats up!!! you'll be late and your boss will be mad" i said  (hahahahah) he is the boss.....he said no work today, it's your day.....whatever you want to do, i'm in. what!! the man who works 24/7  said he is off and we can do what ever (i) want......best thing ever...outta the park home run....spent the day driving to oc with the top down stopping to eat and shop......then hit palm springs for dinner and home for dessert with kids....best day ever!!!!!!

Who you love, I'll Love.......
How  you serve, I'll serve.....
If this life I lose....I will follow you...................................!!!!!!

Money can't buy you LOVE!!!!

if you have spent over 5 minutes with the real me, then it is no surprise to find out i am a self confessed control freak, which i have recently found out is a full blown case of OCPD, that resides just under the surface of what i like to refer to as a strength.....(not so sure to many others would agree ) so naturally when going away for even a weekend, i must plan it out weeks in advance, list must be made, shopping must be done, outfits must be chosen, ironed and stacked by which day or evening they will be needed. Books and magazines must be gathered.details must be checked out so as not to miss any thing. now believe me when i say i truly wish this wasn't the case and i could just go.....but i can not, or should i say i have not, that is until last week when mike totally surprised me . as we arrived home from church last sunday afternoon, and it was now 6 plus hours on my feet with no time outs ( and with RA that is about my limit) so all i could think of was an ice tea and good book out by the pool, said you have a half hour to gather some clothes and were leaving for a few days................now to say this went over well would be a out right lie at best, i FREAKED!!!! but only on the inside so as not to ruin what he had planned.and as i stood there unable to move, my mind racing a million miles a minute as to where to start, i glanced at mike and the smile on his face and i stopped.  he was so happy he had planned and pulled off a surprise ( to my knowledge this has not yet happen in 36 years...yes i said surprise as in good thing) and i just couldn't ruin it with all my craziness, so i did what anyone with OCPD would NOT do willingly...I grabbed a few items and a coat and was ready to go in ten minutes, as was he.he was still smiling as we pulled into our rv storage lot and he saw the smile on my face, (to say i love camping is a understatement by far. i feel such peace in the great outdoors and i would have to say, most of the fond memories as a child were when we were camping).one glance  and i could see how much love and thought had been put into this very  moment of surprise. hearts of red, blue, pink and purple covered our trailer inside and out. roses were scattered everywhere, this was truly one of a kind piece of art that i will forever hold in my heart. he had stocked the cupboards with lots of yummy treats and filled the fridge with all my favorites right down to the cocktail onions and virgin bloody mary mix, which i must have each and every day. as i was busy checking it all out, he had us hooked up and we were ready to roll.....so whats a control freak who is trying..... to do.....yep you guessed it ...Roll with it....I can truly say that this was by far the most relaxed vacation i have ever spent and my heart and mind is forever thankful to mr. m for the love he poured out and all the special efforts..........Happy Valentines Day to me.......!!!!!!

All I KNOW IS I'M NOT HOME YET....TAKE THIS WORLD AND GIVE ME JESUS!!!!!

(reminder....yes i know i type in lower case.....just saying)

ok so it's been like forever that i have posted so i was feeling the need to jot down mindless jabber again so here goes:

it's january 2012 and it seems we have all been so busy living life there has been no time to sit and reflect, that is until now 3:30 AM on a monday morning. we have purchased a second new travel trailer and michelle and chad were able to take over our first new one (the bed was a euro double and up high and my ra doesn't like in when i climb up or cannot constantly roll around) so now us, tara's family and michelle's are able to camp together, which is just what we have done a lot of lately. We love just getting away and have been able to stay close enough to be home for sunday morning church, and just far enough away to be gone from home,with huntington beach being our new favorite thus far.

mike has joined me in running the hospitality ministry and is a very welcome addition, he is the calm to my crazy, which after 35 years just seems to be the right balance of both as we rock it out for God weekly. this christmas i talked him into a chocolate fountain table and learned a very hard lesson, 500 people and melted chocolate,,,not so much!!!!! but it had to be tried at least once. we were also asked to join our church's leadership group (yeah i know...what were they thinking) and mike is blowing me away with his passion to serve god and our church, it's only been a little over a year now that he met our loving savior but to tell you the truth i cannot remember when i have known someone so filled with a complete and real love for Jesus, he is truly the reason we are where we are right now, and for that i am forever thankful and graced beyond words.

all four boys are so busy growing up if i blink i miss it. they keep us all young and amazed...taylor is in water polo, golf, boy scouts and lives to ride his scooter, skate board and bmx bike. jordyn is in his first year of school and goes full time as it is a charter school, he loves every moment and is a a+ student, he just finished his first season of soccer and has just joined a baseball team, he also lives to play outdoor and has mad crazy ramp skills on his new big boy bike. he got a new turtle and dog and loves loves loves them both. e is now in pre school and is doing very well learning to adjust to lots of kids and lots of questions, but i know that god keeps an extra eye out for him and loves him even more then me.he finished swim first in his class and played biddy ball and soccer these last months and is also a crazy scooter rider and is learning to ride his special made bmx bike and so far so good and is getting better each day. nothing is out of his grasp and if he wants it or jordie is doing it then he gives it more effort then anyone i have ever seen, oh how i love and admire our lil monkey e. baby hudson is coming into his own and is the most  spirited out of the four and to say he keeps us all on our toes is an understatement, and has had his fair share of trips to the er these past few months and spent everest's big christmas program debut, having his head examined and  getting x-rays  of the large flintstone type bump that he was sporting on his forehead , as he just took off down a flight of stairs and landed face first at the bottom.....mel is getting paid back ten fold for all the fear she caused me as a child. hanging from 10 foot stairs or climbing out her second story window onto the roof top or spinning from 20 foot ropes in the great Y circus.

mike lost a dear friend this last week, it was so unexpected and he is still trying to take it all in. i never had the honor of meeting john but mike just loved him and always talked about him and his family and had hoped we could all camp together as families. when someone we love is taken from our lifes in a blink of an eye it really gives your a new outlook on whats important in life, and if i had to sum up what comes to mind is I would rank it: God,family and health as my top three...but ill take two out of three and hope and pray for three. i had to stop taking my low dose chemo pill due to the number it was doing on my liver. but because my ra count was so high and it was starting to damage my large joints again, i am rolling the dice and taking a chance and have started the pills again. its a love hate relationship but i don't want to live live from a wheelchair so it really is worth the risk, and am still praying for remission....yes i know it's would take a act of God but i have seen to many impossible things become possible not to .......

wow i really love to jabber on and on don't i........ill give y'all a break and go make some coffee and watch a old rerun of father knows best...oh the joys of being wide awake all night......

to say this life is fleeting is an under statement at best. we get so caught up in the daily grind of life and the world and what it has to offer us as far as worldly treasures we lose site of what matter's most WHEN a tragedy happens...(not if ...but when!!!!!) i myself had got so caught up in life on my terms i forgot that i am set apart and not of this world and live only by the amazing grace of a loving savior. this has never been clearer to me then right now.....his undeserved grace and mercy poured out on an sinful world.