It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas..... I had a better day today..... The Christmas tree is up and most of our Christmas decorations are in place! I love Christmas.

Happy Thanksgiving to all My Friends and Family

(emphasis on "Happy" - I was too grumpy to let my mom take a Thanksgiving picture of me!!)

Some Days (weeks) are harder than others.....
much Grace needed this week!!

This picture shows a wall in my bedroom and most days this saying is true.... but ....

It is impossible to maintain Beauty at all times without Amazing Grace!!!

Most weeks, it is very easy to let my light shine and to see the beauty that God has placed within me.

Some weeks are harder than others......I am having one of those weeks.......

Much GRACE is needed this week!!

How do you keep "Critters" off your front porch?

A critter is having a mid-night snack right on our front porch. Is it a squirrel, a raccoon or even a skunk (we had a strong skunk smell last Friday). Not only did it eat half of a "pumpkin-pie" pumpkin but took a little bite out of EACH item in the display!!! Even the gourds!!

Today Mom and Dad replaced a few of the items....Since it is mid-October, they will not buy more food for the critters. If they snack again, the display will be removed!!!

HAPPY FALL

The Fall Colors

are Beautiful this Year!!!!

You just never know what a day will bring..... or who you are going to meet !

My family had talked about taking a drive to one

of my favorite places - Frankenmuth, MI -

so that my Grandma Geiling could visit a little yarn shop. Grandma wanted to start another one of her beautiful afghans.

It was a beautiful, sunny, fall day so we decided on the spur of the moment to go ...TODAY... What a beautiful drive! We went to Bronners - Grandma purchased a few more decorations for her Christmas Tree. We bought "lantern" hanging lights for the camper and a "Russian Santa" to add to our Santa collection.......

Speaking of Santa....

After we had a lovely mid-afternoon meal at Bavarian Inn...we were leaving the building when we had a WONDERFUL surprise in the lobby.

A "Santa" gathering - We heard there were 103 and another said 80.... needless to say.... there were a whole lot of "Santas". We understand that Midland hosts a nation-wide Santa Training program through our Main Street Santa House. This large group of jolly souls had just completed their training in our home town of Midland.

What a sight..... Of course, sad to say....Mom did NOT have her camera :( Several other people were taking pictures for us and said that they will email them to us. Midland Daily News took my picture and wrote down our names and said there would be an article in November. We will keep our eyes open for that !!!

As these wonderful happy men (and some of their wives) marched through the dining rooms, they were singing "Santa Claus is coming to town". Several gave me their business cards. They were not dressed in full "Christmas Eve Uniform" but had their everyday Santa clothes on (nothing like our everyday clothes). One very special one stood out in the crowd - His shirt said

"CHRIST" mas

Keeping the Reason for the Season

He was a Godly man and had a special place in his heart for people with special needs. He wanted me to get out of my chair to sit on his lap. He went and got a chair and my Dad placed me on his lap. He gave me his Christmas hat to keep and we took several pictures with his camera. He talked to me about God and told my parents about his emphasis on reaching people like me. He got "choked-up" when he heard that the only word that I sign is for "Jesus". He was a wonderful man.

There will be more to follow as soon as I hear from some of my new friends over email or if/when my picture appears in the paper!! Here are a few of the cards collected today..notice the bottom right Santa bowing before God!!!

It just keeps getting BETTER!

We just returned from a week-end camping trip at Ludington State Park on Lake Michigan. What a wonderful week-end! The State Park in Ludington is fantastic!! We now know why it is the most popular State Park in Michigan!!!

So many things to do....

• Many hiking/bike trails (many paved for easy use with my chair)
• Boardwalk along Hamlin Lake
• The Sable River
• Salmon are just coming up the Sable River to Spawn (many fisherman were trying to catch them!)
• Big Sable Point Lighthouse (we didn't get a chance to see this yet but plan to on our next trip)
• 3 different campgrounds - each a little different - one sandy, one grassy and one wooded...something for everyone
• Sand Dunes
• Lake Michigan Shoreline
• and much more....

Our family had a nice surprise - at the Lake Michigan Beach House, we discovered a couple really neat beach chairs with the following sign

Check out the following slideshow - it was a wonderful day for my family....my first stroll on the Lake Michigan Shoreline!!! The trip was so fun that we booked another camping trip to Ludington in October!