It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Staying at Grandma Yount's is always a treat for Kaitlynn because grandma has an incredible amount of "this-n-that"! Here is Kaitlynn with a few of the "treasures" at grandma's.

Congratulations to my dear cuz, Craig Brown, on the opening of his expanded Germantowne Pizza Haus! The new locations holds approximately twice what the old would accomodate, and the interior decor is awesome! By the way, they serve a killer spagetti dinner, and the cheesy breadsticks are to die for!

The kids enjoying Germantowne

Mom and dad, stuffed to the gills!

Sweet little Karianna Brown with some stray pizza sauce on her face!

Kaitlynn enjoying the attention from my students who called her the little green frog when she tried on Ashley's sweatshirt.

Kaitlynn became very excited that cooler weather was imminent. She kind of overdid it, though!

Evan at GBS Homecoming...he said he couldn't get the machine to stop, and he actually ended up eating the whole thing!

With old school friends and fellow blog buddies at Homecoming. Yes, Chris, Nancy got hers up first, but mine's up now!

Greg, with some "help" from the boys and a couple of neighbors, built Jake a new winter home.

I can't say that white is my favorite color for a mum, but the size of this thing was impressive!

The kids enjoy a fall fest at the local home and garden store.


Mmmm - the scent of apples, cinnamon, pumpkin...I'm ready to put a fire in the fireplace, too!

Yes, I'm talking about fall! I love Christmas and all that goes with it, but Fall and Thanksgiving have become much dearer to my heart since becoming an adult. The season is my favorite, and I savor every moment because it goes by too quickly!

Fall Church Retreat...

Little Timothy is just too darling! I think he would be a photographer's dream.

Up close and personal with "Miss Piggy"

I did an upside down shot so we could capture her nice smile. Believe me, her teeth weren't this "pearly" white after cooking!

Brenda and Chrissie Hunter hard at work in the kitchen.

Mom and Doug talkin' politics.

Me at 34 weeks

Baby Paul...what a cutie!

Sarah Seeley chats with a happy smile

Bro. Alley, a family friend since my childhood, gave our evening devotional. He and his wife host our event each year, and attend our church most of the time.

Kaitlynn and Carson shoot 'em up

Tailgaiting
Some of the teens
Some of the kids

Jason and Renee' Hunsaker with their kids, Austin and (not so happy) Emilee

Kaitlynn gives Timothy a lift on her tricycle

Doug and Meghan (Stitt) Beck

Sherry (Moneyhun) Mimms and I

Bill Hunter and Paul Snyder tearing the hog apart

Cramming it all on the grill

It took four pretty good size guys to carry the awkward hog

Kaitlynn and friends enjoying the view

Kaitlynn and Emilee found a quiet place away from the boys

Sally Snyder and her brother Paul...so cute!

Emilee, Austin, and Carson play "house"

Cousins Isaac, Timothy, and Carson Hunter

A happy ending...for most of us!

Each year our church family spends a weekend relaxing and having lots of fun at Beulah Grove campground. Although it was HOT this year (90's), we had a great time. This year's retreat included a hog roast, and that provided lots of entertainment. The hog was actually purchased, shot, skinned, gutted, dressed, and cooked by the great guys of our church. I was pretty proud of them, although the photo of Merlin Barnt with a pig eye in his hand kind of grossed me out. I had a "late" breakfast Saturday morning (due to working on assignments 'til 3 a.m.), and when I walked into the cafeteria with my plate of bacon and sausage, there lay a huge, raw hog on the counter. Yum. Kaitlynn was determined she was not eating "hog", but when mom handed her a piece of this great smelling meat she kept saying, "More!" She later informed me that she only ate the "bologna". I guess that made her feel better, anyway. Our asst. pastor rented an inflatable for the little ones to jump, and they had lots of fun doing that. I spent several hours finishing up a research paper, but thanks to the lovely cabin we had, studying was comfy. Fortunately, our cabin was also a stone's throw from the bathroom! Going to Beulah Grove each year is about as rustic as it gets for me. I've been pretty spoiled at camp (never having to go without a private bath, etc.), and I like it that way! Greg will tell you that I don't usually jump at the idea of tent camping or things of that sort. Anyway, we had a great time with little incident. Actually, one child did get hit after coming up behind a vehicle that was backing up...it knocked him off of his bike, but he didn't get hurt. I think the kids all learned an important lesson right away! Considering the 10-15 guys that brought their arsenal of weaponry, I was surprised to be taking all three of my children home with all of their limbs intact! Many guns and many people in the same place make me nervous! They enjoyed themselves, though, and God (along with common sense) protected us.

Tribute to a Soldier...

My class...

Yes, they are scary!

A couple of Fridays ago, I took my students to the funeral of a 19-year-old soldier who was killed in Iraq just the week before. Christian Neff was taken by a roadside bomb. He lived in the Cridersville/Shawnee area, and was a fairly recent graduate of Apollo Career Center. I personally have never been to a military funeral, and it was so touching to see the outpouring of love and support from our community, and the rest of the U.S. Motorcycle groups came from all over and surrounded the church with large American flags to shield the family from the protesters who were scheduled to be demonstrating across the street. The director of the U.S. Cavalry came to represent our government, and presented the family with all of Christian's medals, including the Purple Heart. As I watched middle-aged, decorated military men lean over the casket and sob, I began to realize what a camaraderie these men share. We, as civilians, cannot imagine the bond that war brings to our guys. They depend on each other for their lives. After the funeral, the congregation exited the church and followed the hearse down the path to the burial plot. It was a pretty long walk, accompanied by bagpipers playing hymns.

As I listened to Taps and heard the shots of the guns saluting a fallen soldier, I was reminded that this war began shortly after Evan was born. He is now in 1st grade. As the mother of two boys in a world that will never find peace, they may choose to defend our freedoms as Christian did. In a report for school that Christian wrote at about age 12, he stated, "I want to be a soldier, even though I know I may die. I would die for my country." Wow. My prayer as a parent has been, "God, give me the strength to continually dedicate my children to your service, whether that includes a heathen mission field or a dusty war zone." Those are hard words to say, and even much more difficult to really mean. I guess this gives us all something to think about.

Thank you, Christian, Mr. and Mrs. Neff, and all of the others who have sacrificed so much to protect our country!

Fall Picnic

They must take after their dad...

Each year our school has a Fall Family Picnic. This year we were able to have it on our own property since we have more acreage. It was lots of fun, and the kids enjoyed the sack races and water volleyball the most.