25 Years of Celebrating Christmas....
As we prepare to celebrate my 25th Christmas, my family took a look back....25 years is a big year and it was sweet to look back at all of my Christmas celebrations. Hope you enjoy how I have changed over the years. My family and I would like to wish you all a

VERY Merry Christmas

as you celebrate the

greatest gift of all - the gift of Jesus!!

Turning 25 at the Magic Kingdom.....

I just spent a week in Florida, celebrating my 25th Birthday. Disney sure knows how to decorate for the Christmas season! We went to "Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party" and the castle was decorated with lights to look like icicles. It was beautiful. The party was a little different this year compared to past years. Great fireworks, stage shows and a parade. Our friend "Disney Colleen" was also vacationing in Florida so we went to the party together. Colleen also spent time with us at Hollywood Studios and she went to Magic Kingdom with me on my birthday!!



























On my birthday, we had a nice meal at the Crystal Palace in Magic Kingdom. Winnie the Pooh and his gang visited our table while we enjoyed my birthday meal. Dad, Piglet and Colleen posed for a picture.




I had a really good birthday - Lots of love from Colleen and my parents.



My Mom and Dad are thankful that God picked them for my family. They feel blessed that He entrusted them with such an awesome privilege. We have had a lot of good times together. They know I love Disney and they love to see me HAPPY!!!

A Day of Giving Thanks.....

Last Sunday we had a feast on my Dad's side of the family and tomorrow we will be going to my Grandma's house to feast with my Mom's side of the family.

Today was a good day. We stayed home for Thanksgiving Day and had a big Turkey dinner with my two Grandmas. I am very blessed to have two very sweet Grandmas and I am thankful that I could spend Thanksgiving Day with them. I miss both of my Grandpas. I am thankful that I was blessed with almost 25 years of love from my Grandpas.

I am thankful for my family.

Happy Thanksgiving & Blessings

to all my Friends and Family

As a community service and a very FUN outing, we placed Thanksgiving cards on each door at the Riverside Senior Apartments. Karen and Mom and I created the cards - each one unique. As you can see, we had a blast as we started the decorating....

Karen and Mom would give me a choice between 2 cards and I would choose which card to put on each door - they were amazed and pleased that I ALWAYS matched the color of the card to the decorations on the door.

They should not act so amazed because I know what I like and I obviously have an eye for color!

I also thanked Jesus for all my friends as you can see I am doing my sign for Jesus.

We did have a few cards left at the end which made a beautiful decorated tree in my school room.


I am thankful to all of you that read this BLOG and want you to know that as I celebrate Thanksgiving this year, I am thanking God for you!!!

Some Decisions are SO hard, but must be made for the betterment of ALL....
I know that I have mentioned my dog Molly on this BLOG in the past.

Here's a little history ...... Mom thought I needed a Dog and a Best Friend. So she searched for over one year to find the perfect companion for me. When we finally found her, we thought she was the cutest thing, trained her, loved her .... but she and I never became Best Friends. Molly favored Dad. Sometimes I would pull her ears and she probably wished she was an "only child". She was NEVER mean to me - she just ignored or avoided me. Mom & Dad tried to force us to acknowledge each other once in a while. Molly would play catch with me sometimes but she preferred laying on my bed pillow more than snuggling with me. Molly will be 7 years old in February and definitely became part of our little family.

Now the hard part...the decision - My Dad retired earlier this year and we have several trips planned in the future and will probably become "snowbirds" when I finish school in 2011. We have been leaving Molly a lot lately and it is hard for her to be alone - she is VERY social. We had to make a very hard decision about whether to keep her or find a new home for her.

God answered our prayers.... We found the PERFECT new home for her.
Yesterday she started living with her new family. We are all sad for us but happy for her.

The family that adopted her lives in my Grandma's neighborhood. My mom has known them all her life. They are wonderful friends. They are a young retired couple and their grandchildren live right across the street. They live in the country - a quiet road with little traffic. The grandchildren are so good with her and good for her. She warmed up to them quickly and they love her already.

The really cool thing about this change is that my Grandma will still see Molly and we can also go visit her. We don't want her to get confused so we will probably let her get settled before we pay her a visit.

We feel really good about our decision but our house sure is different without our little Molly. We love her and I know she loved us!!! :(( silly Mom crying over a dog!!!

Hope you enjoy the following pictures of Molly and her new family!!!

Sure missed this man!!!
My Dad was gone from home for a week for Michigan White Tail Deer Hunting. He drove a little over an hour to the southwest of our town and spent a week with a good friend. They were hunting on private property and he had a pretty successful trip. He was able to shoot two bucks and one doe. No pictures of the deer because he already took them to be processed :( He gave the meat away :) He just really enjoys the sport - the outdoors and spending a week in deer camp with true loyal friend.

We are happy that Dad could get away - since he is retired, we encouraged him to enjoy his hunting season like never before. We missed him and he gets double hugs this week to catch up - as you know he is my main guy (here on earth anyway!!)

WELCOME HOME DAD

& Glad you enjoyed your Hunt!