Saturday, November 24, 2012

Day 234, Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Today my sweet Mom would have been 97 years old.  Miss her.

Day 233, Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Day 232, Monday, August 20, 2012

Day 231, Sunday, August 19, 2012

Day 230, Saturday, August 18, 2012

Today my daughter, Margie, would have been 47 years old.

Day 229, Friday, August 17, 2012

Day 228, Thursday, August 16, 2012

Day 227, Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Day 226, Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Day 225, Monday, August 13, 2012

Today we met with an emergency psychiatrist through Network 180.  We needed a prescription for one of Simeon's meds that is pretty heavy duty.  He needs weekly blood draws to be sure that the meds are not harming him.

Later the Place Family moved in for 10 days to babysit so we could take the 7 of us on vacation while they did child care for Cody, Simeon, and Meika.  We were all on pins and needles over leaving Simeon home, but the Places were willing to give it a go.

Pictures to follow.

Day 224, Sunday, August 12, 2012

Day 223, Saturday, August 11, 2012

Simeon's first full day at home again.

Rosie and Bonnie returned from their Bangla Bible Camp missions trip.  Very thankful that they arrived safe and sound.

Later we heard that the DeCook family were hit by a drunk driver on their way home, and although thankfully no one was killed, they received serious injuries.

Pics to follow

Day 222, Friday, August 10, 2012

Today we had to go to Hawthorn Psychiatric Hospital in Northville to pick Simeon up as he was discharged today.  It was an uneventful trip home, and he seemed glad to be back with family.  He desperately needs a haircut---I had asked them to get his hair cut a couple of times, but it never happened.  He was there for 3 1/2 months.

Pictures to follow.

Day 221, Thursday, August 9, 2012

Today was Sam's first time to show his rabbit at Fair.  He is an official Explorer (aka Cloverbud) in 4H this year!  He did quite well!

It was a busy day as I also had a dental appointment and Cheryl, Kaitie and I toured the Life Skills program that we were considering (and ruled out) for Kaitie.

Pictures to follow.

Day 220, Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Kaitie danced her last time at Fair!  She choreographed her own routine, and got an outstanding ribbon.  I thought this was her best ever solo!  Pictures to follow!

Day 219, Tuesday, August 7. 2012

Today Mahree has rabbit showmanship at the Fair.  Kaitie came home overnight as she has ballet judging tomorrow.

Pictures to follow!

Day 218, Monday August 6, 2012

Today is the first day of the Kent County Youth Fair.  Our club booth banner is in the booth already!!!  Mahree and Merica have rabbit breed judging and Mahree has cavy breed judging and showmanship.  Mahree also was supposed to be in the fashion show and model her outfit, but we forgot to get her modeling narration card in on Saturday.  They would have made an exception, but Mahree decided to opt out anyway with the bunny barn activities.

Pictures to follow!

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Day 203, Sunday, July 22, 2012


Sam really loves to play his John Deere computer game...here he is plowing straight rows for his crop!

Day 202, Saturday, July 21, 2012

Day 201, Friday, July 20, 2012

Day 200, Thursday, July 19, 2012

Day 199, Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Day 198, Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Day 197, Monday, July 16, 2012

Day 196, Sunday, July 15, 2012

Day 195, Saturday, July 14, 2012

Day 194, Friday, July 13, 2012

Day 193, Thursday, July 12, 2012

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Day 192, Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Day 191, Tuesday, July 10, 2012


Stopped at my son, DJ and his beautiful wife, Meredith's home last night---they are in the midst of renovating their home.  Since DJ works long hours, has been ill,  and needs some sleep, progress continues, but slowly!  
Here are Katelyn and Tyler who have also been ill.


It's good to see the progress that has been made on the house!
Mahree & Sam came along, and walked around the yard, and
visited...beautiful evening!



 beautiful sunset on the way home!

Day 190, Monday, July 9, 2012

 Mahree picked out material for her outfit she wants to make for Fair.  We're getting a late start, but she'll do fine.  Afterwards she talked me into making a stop at Krispy Kreme donuts---the red light was on, so we got free donuts---I brought mine home for Spencer.  Spencer is a donut vacuum cleaner!!

Day 189, Sunday, July 8, 2012

Day 188, Saturday, July 7, 2012

Day 187, Friday, July 6, 2012

Day 186, Thursday, July 5, 2012

Day 185, Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Day 184, Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Day 183, Monday, July 2, 2012


Allyson came over to help Merica work on showmanship---she's not at all confident with her bunny.  Ally also helped Mahree go through showmanship.



Dean and Lori were so kind to drop off several children besides Allyson---Jameson, Aislynn, Josie, Sarah...to play.  Sam's been begging for a playdate; what fun they all seemed to have with visiting, chasing, playing in the water, the outdoor toys, and swinging!  I had fun taking pictures!!  Roger stayed home to do chores, and they took Evelyn & Silas with them...not sure where Jackson was!!







Day 182, Sunday, July 1, 2012










Day 181, Saturday, June 30, 2012

Once again we have a foster kitty family!  The Mommy is a long haired Siamese mix, tiny, and very sweet---we hope she finds just the right family.

She had 5 kittens, and they came to us when the babies were about 10 days old---we gave them a birthday of May 8!


Mahree is the foster Mommy, and named the Mommy cat, Rue.  The black tri-colored cat is Cinna, the light colored tri-colored cat is Brenda.  The two grey and white kittens are Grover (the bigger one with the pink nose) and the other is Gale and he has a black nose.  The buff and white colored kitten is named Percy Jackson!  She named them all after characters in books she has recently read!


Day 180, Friday, June 29, 2012

An at least once daily routine---Mahree and/or Merica unlock the bunny barn, and take care of the bunnies.  They are very faithful in their care of the animals!  Proud of them!

Spencer enjoys playing in the water, and in this picture is getting the hose out.  The kids like to play in the sprinklers, and we are so blessed to have inground sprinklers.  They have favorite zones, and will ask me to put on number 7, or change it to 5!  Sometimes they get the kiddie pool out fill it as well....

Spencer has grown so much over the past year.  At 10 he is taller than I am, wears size 10 1/2 men's shoes,and his voice has already changed!  So much for a very young boy to deal with---and he is rather shy to begin with---soon all his peers will catch up with him!!

Day 180, Thursday, June 28, 2012

Kaitie, Spencer, and Sam happened out the door, and it was fun for me to catch this impromptu photo of them!  Love those kids!!!

Dora (the Explorer) is one of our two "barn" cats, who live in our garage.  They come and go, and are becoming more and more friendly.  Dora is Mahree's cat, and our other "barn" cat, Pippi, is Sam's!

Our theme has become frogs--for F.R.O.G.--Fully Rely on God!  This frog's been swinging in our front yard for a couple of years now!

Day 179, Wednesday, June 27, 2012



It is always amazing to gaze upon the beautiful flowers that God allows us to enjoy in our yard!  I never tire of walking around and looking at them!





Day 178, Tuesday, June 26, 2012

The kids love to play outside in the sprinkler, and the hose often comes into play as well!

Mahree really loves all of her animals, and Purina Bree is one of her favorite bunnies---unfortunately Bree has developed a dewlap (check out the extra lump under her chin) and can no longer be shown.

Monday, June 25, 2012

Day 177, Monday, June 25, 2012

Merica & Sam wanted to play with Play-Doh,
so I set them up on the picnic table---no mess for me to clean up!!

Day 176, Sunday, June 24, 2012

Day 175, Saturday, June 23, 2012

Day 174, Friday, June 22, 2012


Pierport beach is changing!!  We like the changes!  The beach is so much more accessible!

We enjoyed a short time on the beach---I really liked this picture of Sam enjoying the waves!


It's our day to drive home, but we wanted to check on Uncle Tom first!  Got to visit with his daughter, Wendy, as well as Aunt Jody!!  Aunt Jody let Sam climb on Uncle Tom's John Deere!  Merica, Sam, and I took a walk almost to the horse barn, and enjoyed the view of the cabin and their lake!

Day 173, Thursday, June 21, 2012

Day 172, Wednesday, June 20, 2012

lost my camera with its 16 mg sd card...hope I find it!

Day 171, Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Tom had surgery to fuse some discs in his back today. They went thru the front!  He has another surgery lower down scheduled for July 17.  Cheryl, Mahree, and I joined Jody & Melissa in waiting in the surgical waiting room.

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Day 170, Monday, June 18, 2012

lost my camera with its 16 mg sd card...hope I find it!

Day 169, Sunday, June 17, 2012


Today we did Church at Home---Laura and her 4 kids were with us, and we are down to one vehicle.  We had a great service.  After we were finished, Cheryl, Bonnie, Mahree, Spencer, Merica, Sam and I went on a mini vacation!  Our first stop was at Hawthorn Psychiatric Hospital to see Simeon.  He has been there now for nearly 2 months with no change in his behavior.  Mahree brought two bags of cheese puffs for him, and he really liked them, of course!!  He was fascinated with the bird poop on the window, and wanted us to clean it off!  He also posed with a few of the kids---I thought it was neat how he put his hand on Sam's head.  Mahree was so good with him.
Merica was very uncomfortable around him---not sure why, but I didn't force the issue!

Day 168, Saturday, June 16, 2012


What fun!  Today we had the Quiggle and Place families over for a picnic!
Lori worked on rabbit showmanship with Mahree, Iva, and Merica!
Allyson cut our cavy nails for us!

We put the sprinklers on and the kids got wet---even without bathing suits!  It was
Evelyn's 2nd birthday, and we found a toddler toy that Merica had just put
in the donate box...so we could give her a gift.  Her family brought a cake,
and we had a mini birthday party!

Day 167, Friday, June 15, 2012

 My nephew, Dean Woodard!  He and his sweet wife, Lisa, have 7 beautiful children!  Caleb, Katherine, Victoria, Abrielle, Julia, Samantha, and Clara!

Bonnie & Laura enjoyed the food!
Today we were able to attend my great nephew, David Wall's, high school graduation open house in Gowen! 
It was fun to see family.  The Walls are visiting from Arizona!  My brother, Ed, is in the foreground---red shirt!

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Day 166, Thursday, June 14, 2012

Merica, Jarvis, Lentee, and Sam went to VBS at Calvary (called CSI) from 9:30-12:00 noon on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
Then, we had lunch and  from 1:00-4:00 PM they went to VBS at Forest Hills Presbyterian Church on Monday thru Thursday!  These pictures are from the FH VBS.  On the last day they gave all the kids a blue themed shirt--SKY!
 Lentee is in the center of this shot!



Merica is in the center of this one!










Sam is partially hidden in this picture, but as you can see, he is participating in the song!  I was so thankful---last year, he sat down in the middle of all the kids and put his head in his hands---I think he was overwhelmed.....this year he participated willingly.

more pictures to follow---computer is acting up!