My Dad

Our family suffered a loss today with the passing of my Dad. He will be missed by his children and grandchildren. My brother's family is already en route to Florida. Lexie and I are leaving in the morning. Please be praying!

I love you and miss you, Dad!

Hey, its me Lexie!

Sorry everybody! I know its been a long time. lol! Well mom is gone to GA for a baby shower and she won't be back till Tuesday. So I'm running the house( with my dads help of course )! Lets see, the dome is coming along great! We have all the walls up and all the windows in. We will be in it by my birthday! Um Zach, Mike and I started soccer and piano and I started guitar! Well I have to cook some mac and cheese so I'm gonna go now! I'll post some more later!! and thank you all for reading my mom's blog!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there! I received red roses from my husband and chocolate from my children. I am blessed to be a wife and mother!

Happy 10th Birthday, Zachary!

I know I haven't posted in nearly two months. I will be going back and posting about the dome. I wanted to wish my baby a Happy Birthday! It seems like only yesterday since you were born!

Here are pictures from Zachary's birthday party.

Zachary's cake, made by Lexie.

Zach with his typical smile and his cake.

Zach, with Mike and friends, blowing out his candles.

Zachary looking at the construction pencil that Lexie gave him to go in his tool bag.

What a great group of kids (and Mr. Dave too)!

After the pizza party, we went to see Monsters vs. Aliens.

13 Years of Wedded Bliss

Andrew and I celebrated our 13th Anniversary yesterday.

Our wedding picture taken by the professional photographer.

My favorite wedding picture taken by my Grandpa (GP).

These pictures are from our church wedding, which actually happened on our first anniversary.

My Birthday Roses

My Mom and Step-Dad sent me two dozen long-stem roses for my birthday. Aren't they beautiful?

Lexie and her guitar

Lexie practicing the chords on her guitar.

Merry Christmas

from our family to yours!

Happy 14th Birthday, Lexie!

Today my oldest child turned 14!

Wow! Where have the years gone?

Saunders Heights

We took Arianna sightseeing while she was here. We went up Saunders Heights, which overlooks Berryville.

Lexie, Michael, and Zachary on top on Saunders Heights.

Arianna with the town of Berryville behind her.

Arianna's Week on the Farm

During her week stay with us, Arianna got to milk a goat (Mama Goat)...

...and feed a bottle baby (Patch) the milk.

Trip to New York, Part VII

The last stop on our trip was the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky. We had a wonderful time! We plan to take Andrew with us next time!

Lexie with her 'pet' dinosaur.

The boys on a bridge in the gardens.

Trip to New York, Part VI

After we stayed the night at Fort Drum, we headed to Niagara Falls. We met up with my brother's family, including his mother-in-law, Sue. (One of the nicest people you will ever meet.) First, we toured the American side of the Falls. Lexie took a picture of Arianna, Michael, Zachary & I in front of the Falls.

The Canadian side of the Falls. (Much better view!)

Saying goodbye to my little brother, Joe and my beautiful sister-in-law, Stacey.

Arianna came home with us for the week.

Trip to New York, Part V

The next stop on our trip home was Fort Drum. This was the first place where Andrew was stationed in the Army. This was before I knew Andrew, back when he was infantry and a soldier in the 10th Mountain Division. I really wanted to see and be able to show the kids where Andrew had started his Army career. My Dad was with us. He had flown into Albany to drive home with us.

All of the following pictures are taken at the Headquarters of the 10th Mountain Division.

A stature of the Military Mountaineers.

My boys in front of the statue. Behind the statue is a memorial to all the 10th Mountain Division soldiers that have been killed. There is a plaque for each campaign.

My boys with a howitzer.

Trip to New York, Part III

While we were in New York, the kids (including my niece, Arianna) and I went to visit Grandma Elly and Grandpa Bill. We swam in their pool and ate dinner. Grandma also took the kids to see Wall-E, while I went shopping for a blouse. (A treat from my Mom.) I also took the kids to see Great Grandma. We had a nice visit with all! Here is a picture of Grandma Elly and Grandpa Bill.

And a picture of the Grandchildren sitting on their couch. I had the hardest time getting them to take decent picture.

My Mom

My Mom had a cow when she found out that I had not posted the picture of her and I. So here it is.

I love you Mom!!!!!
Love,
Lexie

Church picnic and more

On Saturday, a man and his son came over with a horse and left the horse in our pasture to wean her baby off. On Sunday morning, the horse got out and started down the road. Dad got on the 4-wheeler and chased down the horse and brought it home. After it was put back in the pasture, Dad watched it get out again to find the hole. Dad got on the 4-wheeler again, brought the horse back, and tied her up. Knowing where the hole was in the fence, my Dad stayed home from church and fixed it.
Mom, Mike, Zach and I went to church. After church, I went to a friends house instead of going home. (My Mom and I had made cheesecake and broccoli salad on Saturday for the picnic.) Mom and the boys went home to get Dad for the picnic. The church picnic was a lot of fun! I got to spend a lot of time with all my friends. Sorry, no pictures.
Love,
Lexie

Shooting with Dad

Just to let everyone know, this is not Laurie, this is Lexie. My mom does not post enough and I'm always telling her that. She told me to go ahead and post, so I am. Well today, Dad, the boys, and I took some guns to the second pasture for training in gun usage and safety. It was mostly for the boys, because he had already taught me this stuff. We were shooting at a bucket and a toy tricycle. We were about 50 ft from the target. I collected the shells. I ended up finding about 60 of them and we shot about 100 total. Dad did most of the shooting. I wish I had brought the camera! Well, I will post some more some time.
Love,
Lexie

Ike

It started raining on Saturday. The wind picked up that evening. Our electricity went out at about 2:30 in the morning. We woke up to a tree uprooted leaning against another tree that was starting to uproot and had pushed one end of our propane tank off its base. Both trees were resting against a walnut tree.

Thankful, they hadn't fallen and hit the house, power line, or the gas line. Andrew climbed the walnut tree and cut the other trees down before they fell. Our neighbor, Bev, let us borrow a generator. A couple times a day, we would plug in the freezer, refrigerator, and water pump. We have a gas stove, so all I had to do is light it with a match. We used hurricane lamps and flashlights for light. Our electricity came back on last night at 8:00. We were without power for 65 1/2 hours. The only thing we really missed during our "pioneering time" was the computer. The cleanup in our county continues. There was massive tree damage. I have never seen so many trees pulled up by their roots. The power company said that all customers would have power by today.

Kids' Pictures

Professional pictures of my wonderful children.

My beautiful daughter, Lexie

My handsome son, Michael

My other handsome son, Zachary