Here is a link to pictures from our Christmas with family:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2001091&l=684a3&id=1304340063

I don't have a lot of time to write; Billy & I head out tomorrow for Central Asia. I will try to update when I can as we are only taking Billy's computer with us. But I promise to take lots of pictures and hopefully have lots of stories to tell. We return to the states on January 9th.

Please pray for no delays or bad weather!!

Well, if a funeral can be 'beautiful', Grandpa Freeman's was just that. Yes, there were tears shed, but even in those tears we were all grateful that he is no longer in pain and has a whole body again.

Billy & Chris did an awesome job on the slideshow they did of Grandpa's life. I think everybody needs a slideshow of their life to pass down to future generations. It will be neat to show it to those great-grandkids that were too young to really get to know Grandpa.

I've caught my first cold of the season; I had even disciplined myself to take a multi-vitamin every day and had been doing that for over 3 months, but then I ran out a couple of weeks ago and kept forgetting to get more. Well, sure enough I catch a cold. So my hubby graciously got my vitamins and I'm taking them once more. I hope to be rid of it by Sunday or my plane ride on Monday will not be a very nice one!!

The kids are here for Christmas so I will be sure and post pics and videos. Annabella is walking really well and still loves to dance to any music. I think Santa is bringing some awesome gifts this year!!

Since I've last wrote, we lost a loved one in Billy's family. His grandfather passed away on Wednesday afternoon. But he had fought as long as he could and was ready to go home. The funeral will be Monday morning, which is predicted to be nice and cold! Billy has been going through dozens of picture albums and boxes of pictures for a slide show.

My performance in The Miracle of Christmas/Amahl & The Night Visitors Friday night went well; I had a good time but am glad it's over. I had forgotten about how all those extra nights of rehearsals can start to wear on you!

Ashley, Danny and the girls will be coming here after all for Christmas; since the funeral is on Monday, they are staying through Christmas. We have missed them so it will be nice to have them here with us. (now I REALLY have to get my shopping done!!! EEK!!!)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDPA!!

Today is my Grandpa's birthday. He would have been 90 yrs old. I'm been thinking about him alot lately whenever I make oatmeal. You see, he would have a bowl of instant oatmeal every morning with a cinnamon roll. However, he never could seem to get the hang of his microwave, so instead of just cooking it for 2 minutes or so, he would set it for 5 minutes; every time. So not only did his oatmeal get extra cooked, it also boiled over!

Then came the cinnamon roll. He would put it on a plate, and set the timer for 5 minutes again. By the time it was done, the icing had completely dissolved into a pile of goo and ended up on the glass microwave plate.

No matter how many times we tried to show him how many minutes to set, or how many notes we put up by the microwave, he just didn't want to change the way he did it. So when I would go over for lunch, I would always pull that plate out of the microwave and scrape all the icing and oatmeal off. Sometimes you could get the rest of the microwave clean, sometimes not. Do you realize that oatmeal becomes concrete once it cools down??

SO, it makes me chuckle when I remember how Grandpa made oatmeal. I wonder if they have peach-flavored oatmeal in heaven?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDPA!!

It never ceases to amaze me about our crazy weather here in the Ozarks. Again today we were sitting at a balmy 60 degrees around 4:00 this afternoon and now at 8:00 it is 29 degrees. We are also expecting some sleet and snow, but it's not supposed to amount to much.

Later on in the week, the outlook goes something like this:

"ADDITIONAL FREEZING RAIN...SLEET AND SNOW WILL BE POSSIBLE
TUESDAY AND AGAIN WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND EARLY THURSDAY MORNING.

THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE ACROSS THE AREA THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND
EVENING."

It IS possible to go from freezing rain one day and thunderstorms the next as we have
experienced that in the past.  I have a feeling this winter will be a doozy.

Billy's grandfather is still hanging in there, but I have a feeling not for much 
longer. The kids and grandkids have all had a chance to spend a little bit of time 
with him in the past few days and tell him once again how much they love him. But
they all agree that he has told them that he is ready to 'go home' and not to worry.

Please continue to keep all of his family in your prayers as they go through these
next few days.

"

Wow...it's been a whole week since I've posted anything. Hmm....it's been a busy 7 days. Billy's grandfather is still in I.C.U. so that's where we have been a lot lately. It's still touch and go, but we know the Lord is in control.

I made sugar cookies last Saturday, and tried something I had seen in a recipe. It said that before you bake your cookies, decorate them with gel icing. They are supposed to come out looking like this according to Betty Crocker:


So I had some red gel icing and thought I would just put a little dot on a few of my cookies to see how they would turn out. Perhaps my icing was old, or just a little too runny because this is how they turned out:



ARRRRGHHHH!!!! IT LOOKS LIKE IT'S BLEEDING!!! (sigh) Oh well, they don't taste bad, they just look bad. (at least the one next to it looks pretty!!)

It was 55 degrees this morning at 8:00 and it's now 25 degrees with light freezing mist & snow. Ahh...life in the Ozarks....you gotta love it!!!

Casting Crowns Christmas Concert

My mom and I were treated to a concert last night by Casting Crowns and Friends. We got to hear Natalie Grant, Denver and the Mile High Orchestra, Avalon, Michael English, and pureNRG.
(By the way, Denver & the Mile High Orchestra is NOT from Denver, the band leader's name IS Denver!)

You can see my facebook photos here:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2001053&l=9772f&id=1304340063

Here is one of the videos I took:
This one is of Denver & The Mile High Orchestra:




It was a really fun concert and the music was fantastic!! Plus it was the first time I've been in the new arena, and possibly the last for a while!!!

First Snow!

Although it wasn't a 'big' snow by any means, it was still the first snow of the season. We woke up Sunday morning around 8AM to this:




And by around 9:00 it looked like this:






I really liked watching the snow coming down, but it did cause some accidents later that evening.

In other news...Billy's grandfather is doing better since his 2nd surgery to repair part of his intestines from the first surgery a couple of weeks ago. He will still be in ICU for a few more days, but hopefully this time all the medicines will agree with him and his diabetes will not prevent him from healing properly.

Billy & I are treating my Mom to an early birthday present tomorrow night; her & I are going to the Casting Crowns Christmas concert at the new arena at MSU. I know we are going to have a great time!!!