This is for a special someone. You know who you are....

We haven't given up on you, don't give up on yourself! We love you very much

Fun with the Wii

Santa brought the family a Wii this year. We have had great fun playing it. Courtney called it a W, I, I, as a code name. I think he really thought the kids didn't know what he was talking about! The pics below are of Courtney's dad, our friends "D & L", and Hunter's little friend "P".

A few pics from Christmas 2008

Courtney modeling his GI, and staring at his cell phone. He had asked for a personal cell phone so Santa agreed. He put it in Courtney's stocking and then Justin called him Christmas morning. It was funny to see his face. The GI is for his martial arts that is doing. We are trying to convince him to enter into a tournament this summer. He won't agree, but we haven't given up.
Hunter and his Ipod.
Brittni and Justin opening before they had to leave to go to Justin's family. This was the first year we had to "share" Brittni. It went well, but it was weird not having her with us for Christmas Eve.
Connor loves SpongeBob, and yes he is that tall!
Ari loves them Yankees.
Our friends the "W's" joined us this year!
My mom and step-dad, Christmas Eve 2008. They had to be here then because my mom had cooked up a surprise for my sister in Florida. I can't believe we pulled it off!

Hunter lost a tooth....

on a field trip! Mr. Independent even pulled it by himself. Here is a pic of him shortly after he got home from school. The second pic is of him holding the tooth. He was soo excited. The only problem, he only lost one so he couldn't sing "All I want for Christmas is my two Front Teeth". He is already signing, all I want for Valentine's day is my two front teeth, he is hoping to pull the other one shortly!

A few things I am thankful for....

In no particular order:

I am thankful for ALL of my college kids. We don't have a picture of all of them so I chose to leave pics of them off so as to not hurt anyones feelings. I am thankful for all of them!

I am also thankful for my friends. The ones who come through when I need them and don't expect anything in return. True friends are hard to find and I am blessed to have some in my life.



My father in law, and brothers in law and spouses. Not pictured Amy and Angela

My sister and her family. Not pictured my brother in law, nieces and nephew.

Justin, he makes Brittni very happy and that makes us very happy!

My husband

My children


Not pictured, my step-mom Kay.
My parents

Happy Veteran's Day

I am a very proud grand daughter. See the pictures below to see why!

Tomorrow marks my 19th wedding anniverary but more importantly it is Veteran's Day. A day we should show our appreciation to all the veterans who have served, are serving and will serve on our behalf. We recently had a presidential election. Whether or not you liked the outcome, you had a chance to vote, thanks in part to the many veterans who have served. Currently, I know 3 people fom here in Dubtown who are serving in Iraq. That is three families whom I am personally connected too that are sacrificing on my behalf. Take a minute today and thank a veteran or a veterans family.

Grandpa Steve receiving special recognition from my alma mater, El Reno High School. He was one of 2 living WWI vets honored on 11-11-93. I lost my beloved Grandpa on 12-2-93.

Grandpa Steve and His Dear Friend and WWI buddy, Johnny Fitch

Which way to the gun show?

That is a favorite saying of Ari's when she flexes her muscles. I have to admit she works out a lot and is very muscular. Well, today she must have pulled something because she is sore. So, we iced her biceps tonight. I couldn't resist the pics. You will notice she was not so sore that she had to quit texting!

Hunter with his new eyes

Hunter got glasses today. He has been having trouble in school and we think this might be the cause. He has far-sightedness and astignatism (sp). He is sporting his new eyeware with his big sis. He wanted red, just like hers, but we were able to comvince him to get a more manly color. What do you think? Cute, huh?

Brittni and the Segway

Brittni works for the General Tom Stafford Museum. One of the perks is getting to ride this cool machine called a Segway. She was chosen to drive it in the SWOSU Homecoming parade. I think she drives it better than she drives her truck!

Her grandpa and daddy where very sad when the loaded it up and took it back to the museum. I think they both wanted to give it a spin! Truth is, so did I!

Pics from Halloween

This is a picture from our Trunk or Treat. Hunter was a soldier knight for this one. The lady with him is a dear friend of ours. She cooks for Falls Creek every year and courtney helps her. She is dressed as an old lady. She looked hilarious. She grabbed Hunter for a smooch and I just happened to be ready with the camera. Someday he will kill me for this!
Hunter the Dragon Knight, he wouldn't "pose" for a picture so I had to get him on the move.
Connor the ghost, I know creepy huh?

Pics from State

Running her first state cross country meet
Ari, Grandma, and Brittni
relaxing after the run. Modeling her new attire. The beanie, a gift from the state cross country meet. The shirt, a gift from mom and dad. The shorts, a gift from Grandma and Grandpa Howard

State Bound

Ari and the WHS Cross Country Girls team qualified for the State Run. She is way excited because they didn't make it last year. The coach told them they have a good chance of placing if they all work hard and run their best. Good Luck Ari!

She came home with a ring on her hand!

Yep, Brittni and Justin are getting married. I can't say it was a shock to me. I knew it almost from the beginning. I often told people that I would be surprised if they DIDN'T get married. There was something different about Justin and you knew it as soon as you met him. We spent one whole evening talking to them. We are comfortable with their decision, but we have asked them to wait a year. More because of their ages than anything else. They have already started saving and talking about where they want to live.

Two very important prayer requests

Tricia is recovering from her pneumonia; however, her cancer is not slowing. The second round of chemo did not do what they had expected and with today's PET scan came the news that it may have spread to lymph node in her chest. Please pray for Tricia, Nate and baby Gwenyth. Remember a Rose to pray for the Lawrenson's.

cfhusband.blogspot.com


Little Ashley has slipped into rejection with her transplanted bowel. It also happened to her about one year ago exactly. She is stronger, older and ornerier this time so hopefully she will not take this treatment has hard as last years. Please pray for her. I use a "Blue" dog to pray for Ashley. He is her favorite!!!

ashleyadamsjournal.blogspot.com

Thanks for praying for my online friends!

Latest on Ari

We made it through the week and things seem to be calming down. The detective in charge of her case called yesterday with the news that the phone number that sent the text was a pre-paid number meaning no way to trace it. However he did speak with the people and feels things will be fine. The case will be turned over to the juvenille system next week. The girl tried to intimidate Ari all day Thursday, but when it didn't work she seems to have given up. Of course, the police being there to question her probably had something to do with it too. We feel confident that everything will be fine. We are going to continue on with our rules for Ari and watch to see how things progress.

Thanks for praying, cindi

Prayer Request

My blog friend Tricia, who is breathing with the help of donated lungs, has become ill. Hopefully it is just a cold that will pass, but with her weakend immune system (From Chemo), and her donated lungs we can't be too careful. Remember I use a rose to remember to pray for the Lawrensons, so anytime you see, smell or think of one will you join me?

What great friends I have,

Cindi

Update on Ari

Yesterday was the first day that the girl who attacked Ari was allowed back at school. Wednesday Ari got a text message from an unknown number telling her "I swear I wish you were DEAD!" The number was from an area that the girl had recently been in. The police have the text and the number. The school has been made aware and we are sending Ari to school. I know some of you will question that decision, but here is part of why we did it.

The school system is watching the girl very, very closely.

The police are actively investigating last weeks attack and Wednesday nights text.

We can't let bully's rule our lives.

Ari doesn't want her life to be different because of the actions of a bully.

Now, Ari does have rules. However, for her safety we are not posting them. We have offers from several friends from church to walk her to class, eat lunch with her, take her and pick her up from school, etc. We have decide to pass on those for now. Yesterday went pretty well. The girl tried to scare her by staring at her every where she saw her. Ari doesn't let that get to her. She is ready to defend herself again if she needs to but would really rather just go back to being "Ari".

I will keep you posted. THANKS a million for praying for my girl!

Happy 10th to #3!

It is so hard to believe. My sweet Connor is 10! The big double digits. I still remember that early morning 10 years ago. You are a blessing Connor.

Ari

Today Ari was the victim of an assualt at our high school. As a member of the school safety team, I realize the dangers that are in our public schools today. However, when the incident involves your own child, at least for me, I am at a loss as to how to handle it. Honestly, I don't want to send her to school tomorrow. Is she safe? I would like to think so, but how do we really know. The young lady that assualted her has been kicked out of school for 2 days, yes thats all! We did file charges against her because she already had a long list of incidents against her. Did we do the right thing? Did we provoke her into more anger aimed at our daughter? Will she retailiate? I don't want Ari to be a statistic of school violence. I see those every days, I don't want our area added to the list! I am at a loss!!!

If you know me very well, you know that doesn't happen very often. I would appreciate your prayers, and truthfully any suggestions you have!

Heart to Heart, My mom's entry

This is the card my Mom is entering in the Heart to Heart blog candy challenge. It is going to an Alzheimer's caregiver. She is new to stamping, so the $1000 in blog candy would go along way in getting her set up!

A few random cards I worked on this weekend

This card was a joint effort between my mom and I. It is for a man from my hometown for winning Citizen of the Year.
This card was made for a friend of mine going through a tough time. She is totally blind, so I did more embellishing than I normally would. I also used a cuttlebug embossed sentiment so she could feel it!
This was made for a friend of mine who feel out of a tree. I sorta pictured him on his back like the turtle!
I made this a couple of weeks ago for my DD's birthday. I colored the image with my Copic markers!

If you want any specifics on any of the cards, just drop me a comment!

Heart to Heart, Amazing Idea and Candy too.

Check out this link: http://myblogbycammie.blogspot.com/. She is offering almost $1000, yes you read that right, in blog candy. The rules and info are on her blog. Here is the card I made to enter.

Vote on Angel's Blog

Last year while searching for card ideas, I stumbled on a blog. She was in the midst of doing 31 days of card sketches to celebrate the month leading up to her birthday. She gave away the 31 cards as well as 31 different items as blog candy. She is considering doing it again. So here is how you help. Go to http://angelosity.blogspot.com/2008/09/butterfly-kisses.html and vote for Angel to bring her 31 days of Angelosity back. You can scroll through last years cards and even go back and find out what she is giving away as blog candy now. I have already voted, now it is your turn!

Hurricane Ike

*****UPDATED 9-11-08*****
I spoke to Meredith today. She is in Uvalde (sp?) Texas. They think Ike is going to turn more Northward which takes her out of the path. Thanks for the prayers. She is going to go back to Kingsville as soon as they know for sure that Ike won't turn back to the Corpus Christi area.



Many of you have heard me talk about my "adopted" daughter, Meredith. She is currently in pharmacy school at the UT-Kingsville which is right in the path of Hurricane Ike. Would you join me in praying that Ike takes a turn and does not hit the Corpus Christie area. Meredith is prepared, but who wants to go through a Hurricane? Not me and certainly not her.

Hey Meredith just in case, you are welcome to evacuate to Weatherford!

Congratulations Meredith

Congratulations on your White Coat. Aren't you glad they don't look like this anymore? We love you! Your Weatherford Family

Last (official) Day of Summer

Brittni came to visit for Labor Day today. She and I took the boys to the pool while Courtney and Ari went dove hunting. Hopefully they took some pictures.
Connor waiting on Brittni and Hunter to get to the side
Brit
Hunter resting during the break
Connor resting during the ten-minute break
Brittni resting during the break