Over The River and Through The Woods...

We went over the river and through the woods, (maybe even a couple of rivers), to Grandma's, (my parents') house for Thanksgiving dinner. Of course there was waaay too much food, as usual, and I think I counted about 30 of us there. Mom and Dad have a huge insulated garage that has a wood stove in it, so we were all comfy and cozy. I thought I would share a few random pictures that I took that day. I didn't get my camera out until after we were done eating though.

Just relaxing in the garage after almost everyone was finished eating

My three little nieces, Shelby, Liz and Katie coloring:

Here's a random group shot I took in the house, but little Shelby noticed me with the camera and gave me her best smile and said, "Cheeeeese"

This is my niece, Chris and her husband, Kevin. It just happens to be Chris' birthday today. Happy Birthday, Chris!

Here's my dd, Molly, (on the right), with her cousin, Amber who is 5 or 6 years older than her, but you'd never know that by looking at the two of them.

My step-daughter, Ruth and her husband Dan just added a new member to their family. Here they are with our newest "grandpuppy".

Here's a close-up of the pup. Her name is "Star".

And finally, a couple more of Katie and Liz. They are sitting on G & G's treadmill. Little Liz was really getting into posing for the camera.

Week 30 Weigh-In ~ A "Moving" Experience

Well, I decided to go weigh in tonight even though I had decided to weigh in every other week. I had gotten on my home scale and was encouraged. It appeared I was actually down close to 40 lbs total. I was down CLOSE to 40lbs! To be exact, after losing 1.8 lbs this week, I'm down a total of 39.4!!! I just can't seem to break that 40 mark, but then it took me a LONG time to get over the 20 lb and 30 lb marks too, for some reason.

Honestly, I have no idea why I lost anything at all this week. Let's see, I had McDonald's, DQ, Pizza Hut, Halloween candy...a rootbeer float at church...and probably more that I shouldn't have. I'm pretty sure it has to do with moving and staying up all night last night to get it done.

My hubby and I had to get everything out of the house and garage before today. We had some wonderful help during the day on Sunday. Ruth and her hubby Dan are still here, so they were a big help, (especially to Ray with all of his stuff), and then, after church, our friends Lisa and Donnie called and asked what they could do to help. After we'd all had our lunch, I called her and they, (along with three of their older kids), met us at the old house. Not only did they help us with getting things packed up, but when we delivered the refrigerator they were buying from us to their house, they invited all 5 of us in to join the 8 of them for a wonderful dinner of pot roast and potatoes and corn, before bringing a load out here to the farm and helping us unpack it. You can't beat that, can you? Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! You were a real blessing, all of you.

At about 10:00 last night, Ray and I decided to go back to the house alone. I really wanted Molly to go to bed, and figured the other two were awfully tired anyway, after all the moving they'd already done for us the past two days. So they might as well stay here with her and go to bed too. We were hoping to get everything in one load. Yeah, right. It didn't seem like I had much left in the house, but I'm pretty sure it was a full van-load. We were both driving vehicles, each with a trailer in tow, but we still didn't have enough room for what was left. We brought that load back and went back for another. By then, all that was left was the garage stuff...but if you know Ray...that's a LOT of stuff.

I lost track of how many trips we made after that, but by the time we got back to the farm the 2nd or 3rd time, it was going on 5am! We were both exhausted and my body hurt so bad I could hardly move. Ray was running on empty by then too, but he told me to go in and go to bed and he'd make ONE more trip. He did, and he pulled in the driveway at about 7:00 AM! He never did go to bed, he and the kids went off to work. I went back to sleep for a few hours after they and Molly left. He's now sleeping in his favorite place, (sitting up on the couch), and I'm pretty sure I won't get him to move until morning. But we're officially here.

A Little Catch-up Blogging

Because it's been awhile since I had a fully functioning computer at home and a working digital camera, I've decided to post a few random pictures I've taken recently. Here ya go~

Here's one I just had to take of Ray and his son Dan. They almost look like they dressed alike on purpose. Nope. They just accidentally wore very similar shirts that Sunday. Can you see any other resemblance between the two of them? Ray has recently lost almost 50 lbs, and apparently Dan has been enjoying his wife's cooking lately, because he's not the skinny kid he was when he left for Oregon a few short years ago, which makes them look even more alike.

This one was taken at the Olive Garden. Ray's kids, Dan and Sarah and her hubby Brad, decided to take us all out to celebrate our 8th wedding anniversary. Also pictured are my daughter Molly, our grandson, Hayden (in the high chair), his daughter Ruth and her new husband, Dan D.
Here's a close-up of Hayden at the end of the table. As you can plainly see,

he was showing everyone that he was "so big"! What a cutie-pie.
These two are at my dad's birthday party last Sunday. We had planned on going on an old fashioned hayride. But alas, the weather did not cooperate, so we just partied in the garage as usual. Maybe we'll reschedule the hayride one of these days when it's nicer out.

The last picture here, doesn't do justice to the brilliant red color of the leaves on the tree in my front yard. I just thought it was interesting that of three maple trees in the same yard, one was bright yellow, one looked like a flaming torch of yellows oranges and reds, and yet another was still green. God is such a talented artist, isn't He?

Happily Ever (Before and) After

Just a little over a year ago, my step-son, Dan married his wife, TeriAnna out in Oregon. Here is a picture of what Ray and I looked like then, at Yellowstone National Park, on our way out West for the wedding:

Weren't we cute??? Actually, we are standing in front of the Upper Falls in this picture, my daughter, Jessica was supposed to get that in the picture too...but apparently we were just too fat! Well, she was trying to hold her son, CJ while taking the photo too, which may have had something to do with it.

Now, almost exactly one year later, my step-daughter Ruth and her fiance, Dan decided to put their marriage plans into fast-forward, and had a small civil ceremony last Saturday. This is not a great picture of Ray, since he's somewhat hidden by his Aunt Marilyn, but I think you can see how he's lost weight even in his face. I look quite a bit smaller than I did a year ago myself...but I've still got a long way to go. Others in the pic are (l to r), Sharon, (Dan's mom), his Grandma Mary, Dan, (the groom), Ruth, (the bride), and my daughter Molly next to Ray and me.

To date, I have officially lost 33.2 lbs, and Ray's got somewhere around 40 lbs gone. Not bad for about 5 months of "losing it". Congratulations and best wishes go out to the happy couple for a wonderful marriage!

Sad News and Prayer Request

Just a note here to let people know that my step-daughter, Ruth suffered a miscarriage yesterday at 21 weeks. She and her fiance, Dan are doing as well as can be expected in a situation such as this. They named the baby boy Jeremiah James and a graveside service will most likely be held for him this Friday afternoon, here in our home town for family and close friends. Please keep Ruth and Dan and their families in your prayers. Thank you.