MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!

2 more sleeps (as the kids would say)! I believe that we're all ready for the big event. 2 school concerts, 1 Sunday School concert, 1 Cantata, shopping till we dropped, wrapping, baking, cleaning, decorating,... can I sleep through Christmas? I'm exhausted. :)
My mom and sister arrive tomorrow. We'll all head in for the Christmas Eve service. Then we'll settle in for a long winter's night and be up nice and early to get that Turkey in the oven. Mmmm...
I've told the kids I don't want to see them before 7am. Perhaps they'll sleep in? Yah, right. They're pretty excited.
My uncle comes for dinner. Then Aunt Shirley, Lorna and family come late afternoon for supper. It's a lot of fun. Christmas wouldn't be the same without them. I've spent Christmas day with them my whole life.
Then, of course, we're off to Randall's house for Boxing Day. Can't wait to have all 24 of us celebrating in one spot. The neices and husbands are starting to arrive and it'll be great to have everyone (except Tetcy's) together. We'll miss you Tetcy and Ray and Craig and Joe.
It's late and tomorrow promises to be a busy day... so I'll say goodbye.
Merry Christmas to all and to all a goodnight.

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas...

My sister Kathy made the kids an advent calendar. They are having so much fun opening each little present every day. (Things like chocolates, Christmas foam shapes that open in water, candy canes, ornaments, christmas stamps, ...) The other two pictures are of the top of the fireplace and the top of the piano.

We enjoyed Nicolle's first band concert. I was amazed at how much they can learn in 3 months. After the concert we drove around North Rustico and enjoyed all the christmas lights. It's quite a show down there. LOTS of lights.

And here's a picture of Jason's friends that were at his school Birthday Party. We're looking forward to the family party on Sunday afternoon.

We're also looking forward to Tineke's party tomorrow evening. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TINEKE!!!

I made fudge today for pakje night. Mmmm... three flavors. I can't wait to share it with you all. Hope you like fudge. :)

This can't be long... Marten's waiting to start a movie. :) Who would have guessed?!?

So, enjoy this final week countdown til Christmas. I have 2 more concerts, cooking and present wrapping to go. It's such a fun time of year. I love all the hustle and bustle.

Love to all, Karen

Busy Times

December 9th already? Sure goes fast when you're having fun. We've celebrated 2 snow storms since the last posting. What a winter wonderland on PEI. Tons of snow, COLD weather, school cancellation, and lots of playing in the snow (for the kids anyway -- I do hate being cold).
I've been successful at my Christmas shopping and believe that one more trip to town should finish it. Marten's my holdup this year. I'm not sure what to get him. ??? MMMM.... I hate to disappoint.
Yesterday was Jason's birthday party for his school friends. Nine boys are very loud, I might add, when they are together and excited. This year's theme was car racing. We had checkered flags decorating the driveway and garage; a "Welcome Race Fans" sign in the entryway and tons more flags and red, black and white balloons in the house. Looked great with all the christmas decorations. haha! All games were centered around racing and the boys had a hoot. I did too but I was so tired afterwards. Jason was so happy and that's what it's all about. We're doing the family party on the 16th for him since he'll be in school on his actual birthday. We have treat bags put aside for Caleb and Aaron and he's excited to play the race games with them.
We had a nice time at Alice's birthday party on Thursday night and are looking forward to Tineke's this Saturday. We'll be partied out. Is that possible? Naw... it's too much fun. Birthdays, Christmas (with my family), Boxing day with the Nieuwhofs, Marten's birthday is not long after that.... What fun!
The school concerts are coming up too. Nicolle has her band concert this Wednesday night and the Christmas concert for both of them is next Tuesday. Our Sunday School concert is on the 16th (Nicolle is playing a flute solo in it). I'm excited to see my children smiling and doing their best up on stage.
Our church service was awesome today. I love to hear Christmas music. We had special visitors that sang "O Holy Night" which is my FAVORITE Christmas song (it gives me goosebumps) and Stewart Lewis had a great sermon. He compared Moses' visit with God in the burning bush to Mary's visit with God to inform her of the virgin birth. Both were favored by God and honored with a request to do his bidding. Both turned from their own plans and wishes and did God's will, therefore pleasing Him. Will we turn from our own life's plans and do God's will? He's asking us to! [I'm not a preacher and I hope I got the gist of this down correctly. I never heard Moses compared to Mary before and thought it was so cool. I pray that I don't turn God down when He asks me to do things!]
On that note, God Bless. I love you all! Karen

I Can Feel My Toes Now!

The weekend went as planned. Marten had a great time fourwheeling. I got some dutch treats and I took the kids to the parade. Let me just say that I'm still thawing out. I was SO cold. It started at 5 and was over at 6:25. By then I was good and frozen. Even with snow pants and coats, hats, scarfs, gloves, and blankets. Brrrrrrr... Still, we all enjoyed it. The highlight for Nicolle were the dogs and the horses. Go figure! Jason just liked all the lights and being out at night. For me, the parade might have been boring during the day but it sure is pretty at night with all the lights. There was one point in the parade when a float went by from a church and it touched my heart. I had tears in my eyes at the thought of how many people they could witness to. It was the nativity scene and they were praising God with Christmas music. We've all seen it a hundred times before, but in that setting, it reached me and God filled me. It was so nice to sit there in the dark and be warmed with God's love for a moment.
Other churches passed out phamplets of their church's holiday concerts, etc. and candy canes with the story of how candy canes were created. Nice outreach. They could reach 100,000 people along the roads. Pray to God that some received The Message.

What's New? ...

Well, to let you all know (because I know you're dying to find out)... our date was quite nice. The company was OK (just joking you guys -- it was great to be with you all). The restaurant was yummy! I think Marten's favorite was the seafood chowder. I enjoyed everything (salads, biscuits, ham, sausage, chicken, chocolate fondue, desserts...). Did I mention it was buffet? Gotta try a bit of everything, right? The 'farm' is considering taking the crew there for the Christmas banquet. What? No Dutch Inn? Apparently the service and food were not good there last year. So we'll try something new.

Marten went to Halifax yesterday with David Andrews. David had to go to recycle some copper and he asked Marten if he wanted to travel with him. Of course, it was a resounding YES! They have so much fun together. The highlight of the trip was a visit to Princess Auto. Marten's never been there and it was quite fun for him. I mentioned before that I wouldn't mind getting a case to organize my makeup. He saw a red tool box for sale and almost bought it for me for that reason. I laughed. Sigh. Men!

Marten and David (and some other guys) are also traveling this weekend to Carl Gallant's for some four wheeling. He lives just this side of Truro. They leave Friday and will be back Saturday night. There a Dutch food show at the Dutch Inn on Saturday that I'm going to and I plan to take the kids to the Christmas Parade on Saturday night.

I'll be travelling to Crapaud tomorrow (whoopee! I get a trip too :P). Mom has to get some blood work done and Dr. Visser is her doctor. Way out in Crapaud. I usually go with her because she can never remember what the doctor tells her.

I've been busy with scrapbooking this week. I haven't touched it in so long. Nicolle got out her albums on Saturday and it inspired me to get started again. It's so much fun. And so rewarding to get a few pages finished. I don't have a little area like Tetcy, so my livingroom is a disaster area right now. I'll clean it up... some time.

We took the kids to a movie last Saturday... Mr. Magorium's Wonder Imporium. (I'm not too sure of the spelling. Can you blame me?) It's about a magical toy store. Very cute and touching. It inspires you to believe in yourself. We hardly ever GO to the movies because we have so many here, so it was a real adventure for the kids. We were going to see The Bee Movie but Jason wasn't excited about that ("It's for babies") so luckily this movie was playing.

In my Wednesday morning bible study, we just finished "How to Develop a Powerful Prayer Life" and we will be starting "A Woman After God's Own Heart" next week. Have any of you read them? I'm sadly negligent in my prayer life and am trying to develop that part of my relationship with God. I'm kinda a one sentence quick prayer throughout the day. I must find the time to stop and dedicate some time to "proper" prayer. We're also challenging each other to fast once a week. That doesn't nessarily mean a day without eating. We're focusing on turning aside from other things that take away our focus on God and interferes with our prayer life to Him. For me, I have chosen a day without snacking between meals and without computer. I spend entirely too much time on this thing - blogging, facebook, games. So every Tuesday, I will not be on the computer to read your blogs. I'll catch up later, OK? I'm also going to memorize a piece of scripture during that time. Last week was Deut. 6:4-9 and this week was II Corin. 12:9-10. Come on... look them up. :)

That's what's new. What's new with you? I love to hear about my favorite people.
I love you all, Karen

I Have A Date Tonight!

This doesn't happen very often so I thought I'd better record it. :)
Last Christmas, Marten and I were given a gift certificate to the Top of the Park restaurant by the farm crew. It expires on Nov. 28th. Where did this year go? On talking with Randall, they have one too. Add Klaas and Alice and the 6 of us are going tonight. OK, not so romantic with your brother and sister-in-laws :) but we'll have fun. I'm really looking forward to it.
Hope you all have a great weekend too. Love ya.

Christmas Shopping

I'm already excited about Christmas shopping. In fact, I almost have it all done. I know, I know...shocking to most of you. :) It makes me so happy to buy for other people. I just hope they like what they are getting. It's so much better that way. Sigh... the money goes fast though, doesn't it? $40 is gone before you know it. I wish I could spend a million on all of you.

We have another 4 day weekend ahead of us. PD day tomorrow and Monday is off for Remembrance Day. The only plans we have is Church, lunch with my family and then Kathy, Nicolle and I are going to the Three Oaks craft sale in Summerside. The three of us go every year. Kinda fun!

I have absolutely no exciting news. I just wanted to touch base and remind you to check out Nicolle's Blog. She's awaiting comments. :)

Halloween 2007

I've been blessed with the flu since Friday. I woke up a little later since my Mother was here. I had parent-teacher interviews at 10am and Mom was here to look after the children. I didn't feel 100% but I went to the school and the interviews were OK. Brilliant Kids. :)

By afternoon, I really didn't feel good. That was the start of a very long week. I went between melting hot and freezing cold. I had a major headache and I was so tired and sore. Thankfully, that's over except for a very nasty cough.

Since I wasn't feeling well enough to Trick-or-Treat, my wonderful nieces (Rebecca and Julie) agreed to take Nicolle, Jason and Andrew out trick-or-treating. Thank you sooooo much girls. I love you. (Sorry you're sideways. Oops!)

Nicolle and Jason were pirates and Andrew was a handyman. They had so much fun and got SOOOO much candy. I can imagine that it should last a good long time. I hope.

Besides this motley crew, the only other trick-or-treaters we had were Aaron and Cassie. Not so busy on our street. More candy for us! hee, hee, hee.

Hope you all had a good, safe holiday!

Now I'm looking forward to some weekend birthday celebrations with the family.

Love to All, Karen

More Birthdays!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you

Happy birthday to you

Happy birthday to Elisabeth and Isaac

Happy birthday to you.

Elisabeth, we look forward to being with you at your party. Always so nice to get together.
Isaac, we wish you were here so we can share in your day. Hope Mary spoils you. :)

Have a great day! We love you and we're thinking about you!
Love from Omke Marten, Tante Karen, Nicolle and Jason

Happy Birthday Matt!

To all my faithful listeners. This message goes out to a special guy on his birthday:

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday Dear Matt!

Happy Birthday to you!

And many more.....

Aren't ya glad this was blogged and not actually sung out loud to you?

We love you! Have a wonderful day!

Omke Marten, Tante Karen, Nicolle and Jason

You're More Beautiful Than A Tuna!

I'm still laughing. I thought this was so funny.
Jason and I are always saying "I Love You." "I Love You More." As I was tucking him into bed last night, we were going through this routine. To outdo me, he gave me a BIG hug and said "Mommy, you're more beautiful than a tuna." Well, I laughed and laughed and he looked hurt and asked me why I was laughing. I asked him if he knew what a tuna was. He thought it was a flower; maybe a tulip. Awwww... so sweet. I explained the mistake to him. We haven't stopped laughing and teasing each other since. Isn't it priceless? Too funny. I'm laughing as I type this. I won't forget this for a long time. Mmmmm... I better inform him that line won't work with all the girls. He must have taken lessons on romance from Marten. :) I love you, Marten!
I, of course, told Marten and he has since told everyone at the farm. Great! I expect a little bit of teasing the next time I see everyone. I hope I don't turn into a cold fish. Hee, hee. lol
There. Have I made your day? I love to laugh out loud.
Keep laughing. With much love, Karen

Call Us Crazy!

Nicolle was sitting at the dining room table and all of a sudden "Mom, can we dye my hair brown tonight?" We had discussed it before because her blonde was fading to yellow and it wasn't very attractive anymore. We weren't sure what to do. Well, I happened to have a extra box of my color in the cupboard. She was determined so off we go to the washroom. I was really nervous. What if she didn't like it? What if I didn't like it? What will everyone say? We went through the procedure and washed it out, then blow dried it. And... she LOVES it. She was so giddy she couldn't sit still. She couldn't stop talking. She was just hopping up and down the hall. She phoned Nana right away (who is shocked, by the way :P). She's just tickled pink (or brown as the case may be). She keeps saying "I look like Rebecca." That's a good thing -- Rebecca has beautiful hair. Marten is quite pleased. "Have fun with your hair" is his motto. By the way, he wants me to dye mine red. Yah, right! Anyway, we're all pleased with the final look. What do YOU think? Let us know, truthfully.

Oh, the pie was delicious. We had a piece for supper! Here's a picture of some of the children that went apple picking. Nicolle (with blonde hair) and Jason are on the far right.

I forgot to mention in my last post that I was able to go to the ladies' retreat on Saturday because my wonderful husband was able to stay home and look after the kids. It's amazing how God makes everything work out. They have 35 acres left to dig but they're not ready yet so Marten could have the time off. Terrific! He spent the day closing up the pool for the winter. Sad but true. We'll look forward to next spring.

Really looking forward to your comments about this one. We're anxious to see what everyone thinks of the brunette. I don't have my little blonde dutch girl anymore :( but I think she's so pretty.

Much love, Karen

Church Filled Weekend

Can it be? Have I not written for 10 days? Time gets away. Plus, the question is... what do I write about?
This weekend was worthy of remembering. Saturday was the fall Ladies' Retreat for our island churches. We have 13 Christian Churches/Churches of Christ on the Island and we take turns hosting a spring and a fall Ladies Retreat. It was our church's turn this year and I was on the committee. I was the registrar lady (for 108 women) and then I counted the money. After that, I worked in the kitchen to get ready for the lunch. The theme of the day was "Spiritual Spa Day" emphasising that God wants us to work on our inner beauty. On top of two wonderful speakers, we had demonstrations from a chef, a nutritionist, a massager, and a Mary Kay lady. Very interesting -- they actually tied their thoughts into the theme of the day. (I REALLY want a professional massage on my poor feet now.) Since I had a heavy workload for the day, I didn't make it to all the events, but what I did see I really enjoyed.
Sunday was another fun-filled church day. After Sunday School and Church, the families of the children from grades 1-6 were invited to stay for sandwiches, veggies and sweets. Then we all went apple picking together. Such a fall thing to do. York has a wonderful place to pick called Windymoor Orchards. Bags of apples later, it just started to rain. We were going to all go on a nature trail walk but decided that we didn't want to get wet. So, what to do? The thought of going for coffee was discussed. Can you imagine a restaurant full of excited kids? We thought not! So.... being the hostess that I am :), I invited everyone here for coffee, pop, cookies and chips. Arghhhh... the house was a mess. So I rushed home and cleaned up as fast as I could -- it's amazing what you can get done in 2-5 minutes. Everyone arrived and the children had a blast and so did the adults. I love getting together with friends.
So today, I'm really cleaning up (laundry, sorting through old shoes, dishes...). I also caught up on all your blogs. I haven't 'visited' you for 3 days. And now I'm thinking about all those apples downstairs. Mmmm... I think I see an apple pie in our near future. :) Marten will be happy. A good thing to cheer up my family on this dreary, rainy fall day. The kids will be getting home soon, so I must go to the kitchen to get that started before I need to supervise homework.
Have a happy day. Love from Karen

Happy October!

I love the beauty of this month. The orange, red, yellow and even the browns of the trees. The orange pumpkins. The hay bales in the field. Good old Island dirt. Piles and piles of potatoes. Sorry Mary -- 'your' warehouse is filled :( We've had such wonderful weather that the grass is still brilliant green, the bay is sparkly blue. Just beautiful. "In everything, give thanks. For every day, give thanks. For every little thing, give thanks. For the breath of life, give thanks."

I found this Thanksgiving poem and wanted to share it with you:

Thanksgiving is a time of gratitude to God, our Creator and Provider, whose guidance and care go before us... and whose love is with us forever. Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on the changes, to remember that we, too, grow and change from one season of life to another. Thanksgiving is a time of changing seasons, when leaves turn golden in Autumn's wake and apples are crisp in the first chill breezes of fall. Let us remember the true meaning of Thanksgiving as we see the beauty of Autumn. Let us acknowledge the many blessings which are ours... let us think of our families and friends... and let us give thanks in our hearts.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. Give thanks to God and remember that I have given thanks to God for you.
Love from Karen

Trip to Montague

What a lovely day the kids and I had today. It started early. We had to be in town for 9:30 for the only haircut appointment I could get today. I just got a trim but I like it. Yeah! I hardly ever like my hair after a cut. Phew. What a relief.

We spent the rest of the morning at Nana's making birthday cards for "Aunt Do" and wrapping her presents and visiting with Nana. "Aunt Do" is actually my mother's best friend, Doris. As children, we couldn't pronounce her name and it became Do (pronounced doe). Anyway, Nana treated us to lunch at Subway and then we were on the way to Montague to celebrate a birthday. Aunt Do is elderly (78) and lives with her brother in an old farm house. She has never married and seldom leaves Montague. She was thrilled with the visit and we all had a great time. The kids love to go there -- a dog, lots of kittens, cows and horses --Nicolle's paradise. They spent the whole time outside except for when it was time for cake and icecream and present giving.

On the way home, we stopped at a roadside vegetable stand that had amazing fall decorations and vegetables and tons of pumpkins. All of us had fun picking out the perfect pumpkins to take home (I love to decorate the deck and in front of the garage with them.) We picked out 8 pumpkins for $7.96. Pretty good, eh?

Then it was home for supper, wash up, and time for bed for the kids. They were tired. A quick catch up on all your blogs (which I so enjoy reading) and I'll finish this up so I can go and enjoy an evening with Marten.

I hope you all enjoy your Sunday. Love ya lots, Karen

Marten's Father's Day Gift -- his pictures

Digging Time

We're well into the long, tiring hours of digging. They were up and running on Monday and they are having a really good week. No major breakdowns (and I do mean the machinery, not the boys :P). Marten says they must have 100 acres out already. It's going fast. Thought I'd include some pictures for those who are missing the action. (Tineke; Marten on the pile of potatoes; Tineke, Reg, and Aleer) So far Mary they haven't put any potatoes in "your" warehouse but soon. Oh no -- I think it's so sad to cover up your scenes.

Of course, that means Alice, Elisabeth, and I are back to cooking. I've had two goes at it. Tonight was shepherd's pie. MMMM... one of my favorites. Hope they all like it. It's kinda nerve racking to cook for so many. Next time, I think I'll do the sausage casserole that Amanda likes. I could try balony and cheese or warm peanut butter -- what do you think Matt? Hee, hee - I'm still chuckling over that one. Sorry. Is that mean? :)

The kids are in bed and I am, once again, all alone. I know that this time of the year is necessary and for only a short time. But I do miss Marten. I think that is why I'm on the computer so much. There's no one to talk to and by reading all your blogs I feel like I'm communicating with someone. It's like talking to you. It's great to 'hear' all your thoughts and read your comments so keep them coming. I'm not so lonely when I'm 'with' you.

Goodnight. Hope you all had a terrific day. Thanks for keeping me company. Karen

The Treehouse/Playfort

Marten has been thinking for couple of years now to build a fort for the children. Around two weeks ago he said if he didn't start building it soon that Jason would be grown up and wouldn't want it anymore. Secretly, I think Marten wanted to play on it. Hee, hee.
The tractor came, some trees disappeared and the start of a wonderful play area was created. It's located in the woods along the pathway between our house and Tineke's. All the kids will have a great time.
The picture shows what we built so far. We have used our old set of stairs that used to be attached to our front door. We built another landing 15 1/2 feet away. I spent a few hours drilling the deck boards on last Monday so Marten wouldn't have to. It hurts his leg to bend on it for so long. I was glad to help but, OH, I was sore the next two days. I could barely move. Plus I had a blister on my finger. Oh, the things I do... :). Marten had this afternoon off, and now there's a swinging bridge between the two. Is there nothing that man cannot create? Although we were wishing for Matt's engineering expertise on making it stable and safe. We wouldn't want the two platforms to cave in. We finally decided on a 6x6 in between the two landings. (see picture). Does that look OK, Matt?
We have to add railings to the bridge and deck but that's another day.
We also have plans for a little fort house on the deck, climbing ropes, zip line, slide, swings, mountain climbing, ladders, etc. We'll add them as time and money permit. I'll keep you updated with pictures.
Doesn't that sound awesome? Wanna come play? Anytime!

Love to all, Karen

Grade 6 Adventures

How exciting -- Nicolle is in grade 6 now. She feels pretty important to be in her last year of elementary. She's doing great. She's getting involved in a lot of activities that are very new for her.

For instance, Nicolle has NEVER shown any interest in any sports. We couldn't even convince her to try Soccer this summer (come on... all the kids are doing it!). However, she came home Tuesday night with a notice about flag football. "Can I, Mom? Can I?" What!?!? Well, imagine my surprise and delight. "Well, of course, where and when?" So now, every Monday and Wednesday, 3 - 4:15, Nicolle is in a sport. I think her entire class has joined up. It'll be fun for her and she needs the exercise (don't we all?).

She has also taken up BAND. Yes, another flute player in the family. I wonder if she has Julie's old flute. She's very excited to be like her big cousin. She had a training session Friday (3:45 -7pm) and Saturday (9-12) at Birchwood School in Charlottetown to learn how to take care of it, and she learned 5 notes already. She's all excited and readily practices. Hope that keeps up.

Of course, being in grade 6 is "very grownup". She even has a "boyfriend". Nathan and Nicolle have been "dating" since December '06. Wow! It's OK -- so far, they hardly talk to each other. It's more like "Nathan told Lucas to tell Heather to tell me..." Just the way Mommy likes it. He's given her a few little gifts (necklace, book, ring, journal, bracelet). She gets all giggly when she talks about him -- very cute. It's nice for her self esteem that a boy likes her. VERY important in Grade 6, you know!

As far as being a big sister... She enjoys that Jason is now on the bus with her. She does love him but I think she loves to report on him. "Jason got in trouble on the bus today." "Jason and Taylor got talked to. They were being too rowdy." "Pete stopped the bus today to talk to Jason and Taylor." Yikes, poor Pete, our bus driver. I'll have to talk to Jason, again! Anyway, at home, they play nice together and it's quite pleasant that our children are friends, too.

She also loves to be involved in Church activities. The elementary youth group is starting up soon and we're waiting to hear when it will be. Hopefully not on Monday or Wednesday afternoons. What would I do? I want her to go to both.

Check out her blog site for more insights. Damaris inspired her to create one of her own. She's working on her first blog and hasn't posted it yet. But once published, she'd loved to hear your comments.

The life of a 6th grader... don't you wish you were there again? Ya, I know.... me neither.

However, I love to see Nicolle enjoying it and I pray that she knows that God walks beside her every step of the way. One of my favorite Christian songs is called "Hold On To Jesus" (for He's holding on to you, is the next line). May we never forget that Jesus walks beside us in all circumstances.

I'm Thankful For...

Flying High!

Hey everybody!

On Friday, Marten and the kids finally went on the plane ride. Marten had always wanted to fly over the farm (preferably from a helicopter but you can't rent those on PEI). So for Father's Day, I rented a 4 seater plane for an hour (the pilot, Marten and the 2 kids-- see picture). Due to summer business, bad weather, etc. the flight was cancelled a few times and finally they got to go this past Friday. Jason was very nervous of the unknown. I think he thought it would be like a rollarcoaster and he's scared of those. He went on looking very terrified but came off with all grins. He had a blast. Nicolle was very excited and couldn't wait. Of course, she had a great time. Marten... HE LOVED IT!!! Here's 2 pictures of Randall's and the farm. Cool, eh?

They couldn't see too much of our house and Tineke's because of the trees. Apparently, Tineke, Aaron, Cassie and Pete were in the front yard waving but they weren't seen. Sorry, guys! It's the thought that counts. Right?

They flew over Charlottetown; headed along the south shore to end up at The Bridge (they weren't allowed to fly close to it so Marten didn't get any good pictures of it); then travelled the north shore. They flew over the farm a few times. The kids loved it when the plane dipped and circled. Wheeeeeee. I'm kinda glad I wasn't with them. Yikes! Marten took 77 pictures. I'm glad they have this memory. Marten still remembers when his parents took the family on a plane when they were young. Now, our kids will have this memory too.

So, my first attempt at pictures and everything? How'd I do? This could get addictive.

Love to all, Karen

"... and they shall mount up on wings like eagles." God will give you the strength to get through your day. So smile and have a great one.

Here We Go....

Ok, so here we go. My first attempt at blogging. I have just spent a pleasant evening reading some of my nieces blogs. Very nice.
It has been noticed among my family that I did not have a site myself so I thought I would give it a try. I must admit that it is a wonderful way to keep in touch with one's loved ones. However, I am not in the habit of writing down my thoughts... and so I cannot promise to be faithful to this everyday. Please be patient and don't give up on me. I'll learn. But I'm slow.
I love you all so that is why I am trying this.
Now the next challenge... letting you all know that I'm here.
Eventually, I'll be up and running and figure this all out.
Until then, I'll be happy just to read your blogs and respond to them.

Love you all, Karen