My dear sweet Leslie threatened me if I ever posted a pic of her without prior approval. Well never threaten your mother. This was taken on their last trip over when they went to dinner with friends CH and Julie. Isn't Julie beautiful? Love you Les!!!!!

It doesn't take much to entertain Heidi. The guys were using Jay's 200ft tape and Heidi decided to see just how long it was. She also stretched on her tippy toes trying to reach the pine needles. There are 3 big beautiful pine trees just outside the back door that Rob planted when he was in grade school. It was so nice and cool sitting under them today. Would be a great spot for a couple of hammocks.

4 More Days

Just 4 more days until we all head west to bring the kids back east. Bobby and Cory along with some unsolicited help from Tristin, Paige and Heidi managed to get the footers dug for the addition of Rob and Les's garage. They just didn't seem to understand that they were to stay out and away from the trench.

Extreme Makeover Home Edition

I really don't know how Extreme Makeover does it in 1 week. Rob and Leslie's future neighbor here told me today that I needed to change my address as I have been practically living in their future home. The carpenters and plumber finished today and the drywall goes up tomorrow. Amy and I have the 3 bedrooms and bathroom 99% done. We put in new wiring and a new breaker panel and are switching out the existing receptacles and switches to nice new ones so we have a lot of the electrical circuits shut off which includes the AC. It has been so hot in there as we work. Today Amy was in the bathroom painting and sweating and I heard her saying to herself "I love my sister,I love my sister". I guess she was trying to convince herself that there was a reason for the "blood ,sweat and tears". As I sit and type my fingers are a mixture of white, blue, plum and cafe something or the other paint. I haven't had my shower yet tonight. I do have to say that Les has picked out some really cool colors.I'll post some pics. Paige and Heidi have been sick the past couple days with upper respiratory. They stayed with their Mama Brenda today so Amy could help me. Bob and Cory worked at the house all day today too. They finished the wiring and installed the new insulation. We put new recessed can lights in the kitchen and Cory had the honor of spending some time in the attic which was must have been about 200 degrees. I climbed up the ladder to do something for him and it was like sticking your head in an oven. BUT!!!! I am so happy that in a week they will be here so all the STRESS and hard work is more then worth it. Amy and I did tell Les that she owed us a week at a spa. Well it is 9PM and I don't have payroll done yet and need a shower so I will be signing off for now. In case you wonder the plum room is Brookes and Cafe a la something?? is ROb and Leslies.Love to all.

I am including some pics of Rob and Leslie's house as it looks now and then will post some more as we go along. Can you believe that we plan to have it done in 2 weeks? It is really going to be cute and the same as a new house.

What a busy day. Jay, Bobby and I spent the day at Rob and Leslie's house doing some re-wiring in preperation for drywall. I managed (between numerous interuptions) to get 1 bedroom primed late this afternoon. Amy and the girls stopped by for some lovins from Mama and Papa. There were 4 carpenters there also so I ordered pizza delivered for lunch and it arrived the same time as Amy so they got to help us eat it. Heidi gets so excited about giving kisses when she leaves and it is so cute. Leslie called right before lunch to tell me they were at ER with Ethan. Her and Rob ran a marathon this morning and as they came across the finish line they were informed that Ethan had been injured in a bicycle accident. Guess he went face first into the pavement. He looks pretty gruesome from the pics she sent to my cell. He has a concussion, banged up a wrist, loosened some teeth and as you can see from the pic below messed up his face pretty good. I must close and get an estimate ready and then hopefully watch #24 win tonight.

Thought I would post some various pictures of my precious grand babies. I realize as I write this that some of them probably would prefer not to be called grand"babies". I am thanking our wonderful God above that in 2 weeks I will have them all close by again. All of you with grandchildren will understand that. I have a very busy schedule the next 2 weeks getting things ready for their move so I may be posting as much. But hopefully we will see all the family in person when we travel to Indiana to move the kids back. Love ya all
Donna C.

Papa's

huntin

buddy!!!!

Paige with her

crappie that she

caught on a bare

hook.

Brooke with

her bass. I'll

be so happy to

have her back

in Ohio.

Bob holding 15lb

25in channel that I caught

Kaleb is a future

major league

pitcher!!!

Tristin is proud of the

Crappie he just caught.

Bob and Kelsey at her

6th grade graduation.

Can't believe I have

2 beautiful grandaughters

in Jr high

I have 2 game cameras out and these 2 young bucks are the first to the corn pile every day. Between them and the 6 coons that come every night it is hard to keep up.

Heidi really enjoyed the waterfalls at a friends pool on their trip to PA last weekend. This guy installs pools for a living. Looks pretty awesome to me.

It's been a "Yea God" Day!!!

Pastor Greg always says it is a "Yea God" day when something special happens so I guess for me and my family in Ohio it has been a triple "Yea God Day". My kids who have been gone from here for almost 10 years are moving back in 2 weeks. Altho I am soooooooooo happy I know it is not the same story in Indiana. I know how I felt when they moved to Indiana (I thought I would lose my mine) but I also know how my mom felt when we left Indiana and moved to Ohio over 27 years ago. We all feel that God has laid the path for this move. They have a lot to do to get ready and vice versa here. Right now their house here is under major remodeling but it looks like it should be 99% ready when they get here. Between Amy and I and hopefully some other volunteers we need to prime and paint 9 rooms. The carpenters should be ready for us to do some re-wiring and the plumber to do his thing by this weekend. Then the drywaller will move in the first of the week. The new kitchen cabinets will be in on Monday and the flooring guys hope to have it all in pretty close to the move date of Sept 5th. We plan to come over on the 4th to get them packed up.

Sad News

I write this with a heavy heart for some dear friends of ours. Eight years ago Jay and I started a program where we host disabled or as Jay calls them "differently abled" friends who love to hunt but do not have a way to fulfil their dream. One of the first four who joined us (Ernie)has since became Jay's closest friend along with his brother Johnnie and both of their families. They live east of Cincinnati. I received a call yesterday from Ernie that Johnnie's 22 year old son Chris was killed in an auto accident. Chris has a son who turned 1 yr old today. Bobby and Cory are also close to Chris as they along with Johnnie lived and worked together in Florida for almost a year. Jay, Bobby and I will be traveling to Cincinnati on Sunday afternoon for the visitation.
Amy, Paige and Heidi along with her best friend Michelle and her kids Chase and Ashley left yesterday for PA. Michelle is from there and they went to host a surprise baby shower for Michelle's sis-in-law who is also a friend of Amy's. It was an 8 hour drive. They said the little ones did great on the trip. They won't be back until Monday night which is Amy's 28th B-day. Can't believe my baby will be 28. Sue mentioned on her blog a few days ago about her babies being in high school-hey sis I have 2 grand-daughters in Jr. high this year!! Talk about feeling old. I actually got to stay at home today, well most of the day. I had to run in town (12 mile) to meet a contractor to pick up a blueprint to figure. I should be doing that instead of this but I needed a break. The real reason I am home is because "Thank you good Lord above" there is a young man outside installing a dish which will hopefully by the end of the day provide me with high speed Internet. We live so far in the "boonies" that we have dial up only and no cell phone signal. So I will be a happy camper tonight. I will let you know my new address. Gotta go and get to working on that blueprint. Love to all.

Survived Bible School

Seems like I am in a fog after what felt like a straight 24 hours of Bible School. I took Kelsey, Kaleb, Tristin and Paige and their friends Ashley and Chase were there. We had it last night from 6-9PM and today from 9-3:30. Since it is 25 mile one way to our church that meant an hour on the road each day. The kids all had fun. I always work in the Snack Shack. It is SOOOOO!!!! wonderful to be able to have VBS in our new church. Kelsey got sick today and I had to have her mom pick her up at noon. She just started Cross Country and I think it was a result of running 2.8 mile before VBS this morning and not re hydrating herself. She started with a headache and then nausea. She is feeling better. I am in much need of a nap but that don't look like it is possible.I brought Kaleb and Tristin home with me until their mom gets off work. As tired as they are they still have a lot of energy. Kaleb just went up the hill in the woods on the 4-wheeler and Tristin is trying to catch a crawdad to fish with. We are greeters at first service tomorrow and Jay works as Guardian Angel both services. There is a VBS picnic immediately following 2nd service and I will be helping to serve. Maybe I will get a "power nap" later tomorrow afternoon. But then probably not as I will just have to stay awake to watch the #24 win the Nascar race!!!!! Talk to you all later.

Two busy days with the Riders

Rob, Leslie, Brooke and Ethan left at 1PM today heading back to Indiana. They logged a lot of miles the past day and a half. They had several personal appointments plus a meeting with the contractor doing the work in their house. Met with the flooring man to pick out the new carpet and vinyl and finalized the order for their kitchen cabinets today. They were tired when they left. I was with them most of the day yesterday and this morning. Bobby and I went about 20 mile south of here late today to get a material list for a new service we are installing tomorrow. In between I caught up on laundry and dishes. I also finished the last chapter of a book I have been reading. The author is a friend of mine from church. I got home about 7PM and Jay came in just a few minutes later. We ate and did our nightly ritual of fishing a few minutes at the pond. It is always a good way to de-stress for us.
Just realized how quiet it is tonight with everybody gone. Miss them already!!!!
Gotta go. PS: I got my backrubs and manicure from Brooke. Ethan drove his mom crazy by constantly running the massager on my recliner. She told me to hide the controls next time they came.

Great day with the family

Rob , Les, and the kids arrived last night about 8PM. Jay was fishing and Rob and Ethan couldn't wait to throw the lines in. They caught some fish. We are blessed to have a beautiful heart shaped pond just 50 feet from our door. It is fully stocked and the grand kids all love to fish as they always catch a lot of fish. We got to bed late so we went to 2nd service this morning. Jay and I usually go to 1st service but it was a little too early for the kids. It was great having all the kids and grand kids together at church. We treated them all to lunch at Bob Evans afterwards. Our church is across the road from the Bob Evans Farm. It is kinda strange not seeing Mr. Evans around anymore as he passed away this past winter. Jay and I met him and became friends with him shortly after we moved here 27 years ago. This afternoon all the kids along with some of their friends came here. They all fished for a while and rode the 4-wheeler and then the grand kids decided to jump in the pond and swim. They had a blast. Jay grilled hot dogs and corn on the cob on the grill for supper.

The DNR came here yesterday and asked permission to set up some nets to catch bats. They are looking for a specific bat called the "Indiana Brown Bat". It is determined by measuring the hair on its toes. NO KIDDING! They set 2 traps here and starting about 8:30 PM until 1:30 AM they checked them every 20 minutes. They are doing it again tonight. The reason for the project is because a coal company is interesting in mining in this area and if an "Indiana Brown Bat" is found then they cannot mine because it is an endangered species. Interesting ,uh?

I must get these dirty kids in the shower before Rob and Les get back from seeing some friends so I must go. Love ya all!!

I spent the morning at the market hog sale at the fair buying a hog for our business. We usually have it re-sold but decided this year to have it processed for meat. It was a hot morning. I was so impressed and proud of the exhibitors because as each one sold their animal they along with a parent would find the buyer of their animal, thank him/her, shake their hand and give them a large glass of lemonade. It's is heart warming to see the respect their parents have taught them. After the sale I stopped at our electrical supply store to return some material and then on home to (what else) get some more office stuff done. I am on the job site most days along with the crew on top of tall ladders, hanging from a truss or 3 bucks high on scaffolding but also keep all the office work done. I need a secretary for myself but have decided it would be harder to train someone then to just do it myself. Once a week I mow our 5 acres here too but that is one thing I enjoy. It is my official thinking time.

I am so excited to know that my Daviess County kids (Rob, Leslie, Brooke and Ethan) will be here tomorrow. Brooke always starts a countdown via e-mail before they come home. We have a busy weekend scheduled for them as they have to meet with contractors, flooring people and cabinet people while they are here. In case you didn't know they own a house here and it was severely damaged by a hot water line break about 6weeks ago. It pumped in 5000 gallon hot water in 1 week. It was a blessing in disguise as now it will be like a new home inside. It is getting all new flooring, drywall, insulation, cabinets, lights, and paint. Us electricians plan to also install all new receptacles and switches. Brooke has promised me one of her famous back massages and a manicure while they are here. Boy do I need that!!!!Yea God!! She says it is payment for handling the water mess at there house for them.

Sis Lou called today to give me an update on mom's medical situation. Seems she has a few more problems to ad to her list. Mom amazes me for all she still does at her age. Leslie said when she was there yesterday picking corn mom showed up in the garden to pick corn too.Please keep her uplifted in your prayers as she deals with the latest problems.

Since they are arriving tomorrow I guess I'd better get some cleaning done tonight so I can run to the grocery store tomorrow after I sleep in for a little while in the morning.