Happy New Year 2011

Hello,

Can it possibly be a new year around the corner? This past year flew by so fast. It's hard to believe we have lived here in Kansas for 18 months. I would say we are pretty well adjusted and all 4 of us agree it finally feels like home.

I'm not going to reflect much on this past year. Go ahead and scan my past blogs If you would like to check out what took place throughout the year.

God has blessed our family in so many ways. Thank goodness each day is a new day, and it is comforting to know that God is walking with us or carrying us every single day.

The kids are loving their Christmas break from school. I have caught Keegan in her PJ's, in the middle of the day playing video games. What can I say, it's just nice to see her once in awhile enjoying life and not stressing out with schoolwork. They both have gotten together with their friends and just hanging out. All we need is a little snow and they will be really happy!

No plans for New Year's Eve. David is working that evening and I will be home chaperoning my teenagers and their friends. Whoopee!! On New Year's day, I work and David has off!

I'm sure once school starts back, I will have more to write about. Before school was out, Keegan found out she has another part in the high school musical coming up. I've heard Dawson say he is going to start working out and getting back into shape for track, soccer and Lacrosse. Can he do all 3 sports?? Oh brother!! We'll see about that...

Hope you all have a blessed year and many more to follow. Hug your loved ones as much as possible. Life is a gift and it is so precious.

God Bless all of you.

Love,

Marjie

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Hi Everyone,

It's that time of the year. I have to admit, I have had to work very hard to stay focused and pray to my Lord Father in heaven to keep me reminded of what Christmas is really all about. Of course I love it when I occasionally feel the true meaning of Christmas around me, but most of the time I am thinking about everything I should do before the holiday. This week I have 3 days off in a row. I have spent a lot of time praying and I am loving my time getting prepared spiritually.

It's been pretty quiet here with our family since David and Dawson returned from Arizona. Keegan's theatre and Dawson's sports are on a break until the new year. David and I are both putting in extra hours at work. Although Home Depot will slow down soon.

We don't have any extra plans for Christmas, except our traditional seafood/steak dinner the four of us enjoy! Keegan's favorite food is steak, Dawson's favorite is lobster and crab meat. David and I love both!! :)

The kids can't wait for their Christmas break. Believe it or not, especially Keegan. She is really hoping for NO homework assigned during the break. David and I didn't take off any time this year so with the exception of Christmas day we will be working.

Nothing else to write about for now.

Please continue to keep praying for comfort for our family and our loved ones in Arizona. Every day we think about how much we miss our beloved Ben.

Merry Christmas and Have a Happy New Year.

May God bless you all and help each of us to stay focused on the true meaning of Christmas.

Love,

Marjie

Hi Everyone,

Thanksgiving morning our beloved son, Ben joined our Lord Father in heaven. I can't help but picture in my mind how beautiful it was for him to be greeted by the Lord and his loved ones who passed on before him and angels galore. Ben is probably already making them laugh by telling so many funny stories.

I woke up this morning feeling very sad and lonely. With David and Dawson in Arizona and thinking about how much I'm going to miss my very special stepson, Ben.

I saw I had a message on facebook from an old friend, so I checked it out. It had been a while since I had read anything on it. Then I noticed how many people had gone on Ben's facebook and had sent there loving words and memories to him and his family. It was medicine to my soul to read so much love and concern for a wonderful man that God had placed on this earth to bless each of us who knew him.

This Thanksgiving was hard, but I know every Thanksgiving from now on, Ben will be heavy in our hearts and minds. He will remind us to be thankful for our loved ones and our many blessings.

That's all for now.

May God bless all of you. Be sure to tell your children how much you love them and hug them as much as possible. They are truly gifts from God, to show us how much He loves us.

I love you and I miss you,

Marjie

My fall flowers are so beautiful

Hello,

It's early Sunday morning and I'm having a hard time getting back to sleep. Seems like I woke up with a lot on my mind. We have had a very busy weekend so far. I have to go to work today, but David gets the fun job of running the kids around. Dawson has soccer practice, Keegan is helping her theatre group tear apart their set today for the school play they put on over the past 3 days. Then Dawson is getting together with a friend and Keegan probably has a ton of homework that has been piling up over the weekend.

Dawson is on a soccer league with one of his close friends. They have practice 3 times a week, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. He plays as their goalie. I guess he did good yesterday at the game. I had to work, so I didn't get to watch him. They won, so he was very happy.

We went to Keegan's performance Friday and Saturday evening. The play was called "Moon Over Buffalo" It was a comedy, and extremely funny. Keegan played the most normal person of the cast this time, which was a switch! She usually has been cast as crazy/nuts or wicked. She was very happy to act as a romantic lady in this play. She even had to kiss 2 guys!! (She's going to be a kissing pro before she has her 1st real kiss.) I can hear her now, "Ah Mom". I wish so much all of you could watch her act. She is so good. She is a natural on stage.

It's 2 weeks later. (October 16th)

I was able to watch Dawson's game this past week. Wow, he did great. He was a superstar. He said it was his best game ever. Maybe because his mom was there? No, probably because the girl he likes was there! The team they played was undefeated. They beat them 4-0. Dawson blocked a ton of potential goals from the opposite team and was able to shut them out. David and I were so proud of him. David heard a few people sitting behind us complaining about how big Dawson was and wondering if he was older than the required age. The kids can't be older than 13 in this league.

This week the kids had school only Mon through Wed. They have a 4 day weekend, since it's the end of the 1st quarter. I decided to take the 4 days off too. I knew I wouldn't be so lucky to hang out with them, but I at least wanted to be available to drive them around to whatever they had planned during their school break.

Keegan is off on a trip for a couple of days with a film studies group from her school. They are up north near Kansas City. The event is a competition to create, produce and direct a film. They are given a subject when they arrive. All the teams have equal amount of time to make their films.

Keegan just text me this second. She said they just finished filming and that it was a very long day, but their film is beautiful. They drove all over the city filming at different locations. I can't wait to hear all about it when she gets home.

The weather has been so nice here. The leaves are just starting to turn colors. The nights and mornings have been very cool, but it still gets up into the 70/80's during the day.

I have really enjoyed planting and taking care of my flowers this year. I will attach a few pictures of my favorite flowers along with pictures of the kids.

David is doing good. Regularly he receives messages from Nancy, updating us on how Ben is doing day to day. Right now he is doing ok and is out of the hospital.

Thank you for all of your prayers. Please continue to pray for Ben. He has been through so much.

Keegan has text me a few more times. She said after editing, they got their film in 12 seconds before the deadline. She said she thought she was going to have a heart attack! Now they have to wait for 1 hour. At that time they will watch every one's videos, then be judged. I just hope she has a great time and gets home safely.

It's about 1:30am right now. Keegan is home and telling us all about her trip. They did not win the competition, but her group was very happy with their film. She said it was so much fun and was able to get to know the other kids a lot much better.

Dawson and a bunch of his friends went to a haunted house tonight and also had a good time. Meanwhile David and I hung out at a book store, then a hamburger joint waiting to hear from our kids, so we could pick them up.

Be sure to scroll done the side bar quite a ways. I have a lot of pictures of my flowers, Keegan's theatre group and Dawson's new soccer pics.

We have one day left of our 4 day weekend. I think everyone is pooped, so I imagine we will be sleeping in tomorrow!

I'm so lucky, after my 4 days off, I go back to work 1 day then I have 2 more days off! Home Depot is back to cutting hours. On the other hand they are hiring a few more employees. I will never understand their logic. I just keep telling myself I am thankful to have my job.

The kids are back to school. Dawson is in a club after school called NAL. Don't ask me what that means, because I've asked him and he doesn't know. :/ It sounds like the game show "Jeopardy". The students are asked a question about anything, which ever team answers 1st gets the point. I don't know too much yet. They practice 3 days a week after school. Next week they start the competition with other schools. I do know he is having fun with it.

Keegan is in a music/dance group now that will be putting on a performance called "Nights Of Broadway". She is way out of her comfort zone dancing and singing. We were so proud of her for auditioning. A ton of kids tried out and didn't make it. They practice every day after school until 5:30 pm. She is pooped after the dance practice. She too is having a great time.

You can all guess what I like to do everyday. Now you can see why I need my own hobbies. The kids don't have much time for their Dad or I. We are their cheerleaders/spectators. Do I sound like I'm feeling sorry for myself? Actually both David and I are feeling a bit of separation anxiety from our children! :(

I have made a list of all the things I used to love doing before we had kids. I've decided to try and start doing them again. Otherwise I am going to miss those two like crazy when they leave for college. I know I will anyway, but I think I need to start preparing so it won't be so hard on me, huh?

I am in love with the fall season another year in Wichita. I never knew how much I missed the seasons living in Arizona. Dawson said this weekend, he is looking forward to this winter when it snows. I don't know if I would go that far, to wish for snow already.

Well I've done it again, I've made a very long blog to read. I had to make it longer, because of all of my pictures along the side, right? I know my flowers are probably going to bore you to death, but too bad, it's my blog!!

I guess that's it for now. Have a great week. Please keep in touch. Think about a good time to come to Wichita to visit. Come on...it's not that bad here! We may be busy but never too busy to have visitors.

May God be with all of you.

Love and miss you,

Marjie

Keegan's Sweet 16Th Birthday Party

Hello to everyone,

Long time no blog! It's that time of year when I am running the kids here, there and everywhere. Plus I have been fortunate to be scheduled more hours than usual at Home Depot. I have to check the calendar daily for fear I might miss something important. A lot has happened since I last wrote. I'm afraid it may be a long blog or maybe I will decide to split it up into several parts.

Most of you already knew David made a 2nd trip back to Phoenix this summer. His son, Ben was going through radiation, so David wanted to help drive him to the hospital and spend more time with him. He was there for a little over a month. It was very weird here without him, but we managed and knew he needed to be with his family in AZ.

The kids started back to school before David got back from AZ, so I had to make sure I was totally available for the kids. Luckily my work schedule never interfered.

It's hard to believe Keegan is a Junior and Dawson is in 8Th grade. They both have good teachers this year. Naturally Keegan is slammed with homework since day 1, she has been overwhelmed with what's expected of her in the next 2 years. Dawson has more homework than in the past, but still not much.

A week after school had started, Keegan turned 16 and wanted an original kind of birthday party. She wanted it to be wet-n-wild. She had been telling me for a year how she wanted to surprise her friends and soak them the second they arrived at her party with water balloons and water blasters. So, Keegan invited a bunch of her friends over to help celebrate her Sweet 16Th birthday. The theme was BALLOONS! They spent the entire day outside our backyard having water fights. Keegan has also been complaining for years that she was deprived of never having a pinata for her birthday. The trees that border our yard wouldn't work, so I built one coming out from our deck. It was hilarious watching everyone attempting to hit the pinata.

Dawson and I had filled over 1000 water balloons the week before her party. We got so wet and cold and bitten by mosquitoes. Although we had a lot of laughs every time a balloon broke or accidentally squirted each other. We did this until bedtime every night. I think our neighbors thought we were nuts sitting in the middle of the yard, passing the water hose, in the dark. Of course I had to bribe Dawson with double allowance for the week ;/ but, it was well worth it. (Keegan couldn't help because she was so loaded down all week with homework.) The party was a huge success. I've attached a few pictures above and on the side bar.

David drove straight through the night from AZ and surprised us by making it back in time for her party. I put him to work immediately by running to get 15 pizzas for her friends. We were so happy to have him home. We missed him like crazy. I know Keegan was thrilled he was here to watch her have fun on her big day.

I am going to close for now and start on another blog shortly.

We loved seeing most of you this summer and sorry I didn't get a chance to see the rest of you. All of you are welcome to come and visit us in windy Wichita.

May God be with you.

Love,

Marjie

A Trip Up North

Hi Everyone,

Guess what? One year ago today, we left the state of Arizona and headed across the country to our unknown home. It's hard to believe a year has gone by so fast.

Once again after another vacation it's good to be home, but as usual I have mixed emotions. It seemed like our trip to Illinois and Wisconsin went so fast. I loved seeing my family and my kids getting reacquainted.

First we stayed with my sisters' family in Rochelle, Illinois. We were only there for a couple of days, but we were still able to enjoy quality time together. Although one morning my sister talked me into going with her to her Zoomba dance class. My body was still wiggling and jiggling after I stopped dancing. If you have a Zoomba class close to where you live, you need to try it out, it was a blast. We also played a bunch of board games with the kids. Dawson and Daniel played catch, Lacrosse, soccer and video games. Brian took Keegan for a ride in their new Jeep with the top off, she enjoyed her time with her cousin and a quick tour of their town. I always, always, always, love catching up with my sister Linda. It was also nice visiting with my brother-in-law, Dale. Thanks Dale, for letting us overrun your home again and allowing my dog Luna to come with us this time.

We then drove to Wisconsin where the rest of my family lives. We stayed with my brother Dick and his wife, Cindy. Oh, and of course Zip their fun loving dog and a million cats!! Okay, okay I'm exaggerating a little. Still there are a lot of cats. My kids were so excited to get to their farm. Each year they fall in love with a new set of kittens. Always anxious to get back to see how they look and how they have grown up. Now that the kids are getting older you would think they wouldn't be as interested. That is so not true. All they talked about after leaving Illinois was seeing a new batch of kittens. (Sorry Dick and Cindy!) Now that we are home they are still talking about the kittens. I was afraid their favorite kitten "Mini" would become a stowaway. Several times on the way back to Kansas they would tease me and talk to Mini as though she were in our van! I told them they were allowed 1 cat, so if they brought back a kitten from Wisconsin they would have to get rid of their cat "Nike". Thank goodness they decided to keep Nike. (I'm sort of attached to her!) ;D

There is nothing quite as relaxing as staying on the farm with Dick and Cindy. All you can see for miles in all directions of there home is lush green fields and the rolling hills. They have no idea how nice they have it there. Every morning was cool with the dew and fog low to the ground creeping up from the alfalfa fields. I would wake up early to spend time with my brother Dick before he headed outside to start his daily chores and milking the cows. He would always have a fresh pot of coffee ready to drink. Later Cindy and I would always have such nice visits. I know we take up so much of her time when we visit. I'm afraid her business probably suffers every time we stay there. I am ALWAYS inspired when I visit my family. I come home with new ideas and wanting to treat myself better physically and emotionally. It is just so refreshing and rejuvenating.

I loved having time with Mom and Dad. It never seems like I can spend enough time with them. Both of them looked so good. Dad would come over to the farm each day, so I could have that special time with him. Later we would drive over to Mom and Dad's home so we could spend more time with both of them together. During our visit we were able to get together with my other brother Steve and his wife Nancy and my Uncle Dave and Aunt Janet.

The biggest difference from this trip to any other trips to WI was Keegan attended a Creative Writing workshop, taught by an Iowa State College Professor. It took place at beautiful "Shake Rag Alley". She was in a class with 8 other students. It was such a great opportunity for her. Keegan had a lot of fun and had many unforgettable experiences during the week. Without going into too much detail, I think it's safe to say, Keegan has a gift in writing. I'm so glad she enjoyed herself and has such a passion for writing. Who knows, maybe an author one day, huh?!

During her classes Dawson and I did many things. We drove down to Platteville. I showed him my first apartment I lived in, then drove around the University. We went to a couple of parks and practiced his soccer ball stunts and shot some hoops, while I sat and watched. :o

One day Dawson and his Uncle Dick went to the golf course at the shooting range and Dick gave Dawson many helpful tips on how to hit the ball and what clubs to use. Now he has been challenged, his uncle told him if he practices what he learned, they will play a game of golf next summer.

By the way, the reason I have toads/frogs on my blog border is in honor of Cindy. If you don't know her toad story you need to ask her about it. She is the most kind hearted creature lover I know. She saved a generation of toads. Her story should go in Readers Digest. I'm serious.

I can't say enough good things about our trip. The hospitality was so fantastic. Everyone was so generous to us. Since we had just spent 2 weeks in Phoenix, our funds were low, so we mooched off of everyone when it came to meals. We are so thankful to everyone for letting us bring our dog along, it really helped David out not to have to take care of her while we were gone. Hopefully we can re-pay all of you when you come to Wichita to visit us. I know it won't be as good, but I'll give it my best shot! :)

The drive back was long and thankfully uneventful. We didn't think Iowa was ever going to end. It was so nice to see David when we got home late Monday evening. Good thing we brought home Wisconsin Cheeezzzz! Otherwise he might not have let us in the house! LOL

The next morning I had to be at work at 7am. Only 3 hours sleep that night. ugh. When I got home from work I crashed. The next day everyone informed me they were out of clothes to wear. Wow, just like that, the vacation was over!! :(

Another reason to love Kansas, right? This is the first time in my 27 years after leaving my home state of Wisconsin, that we were able to drive back instead of spending around $1000 to fly our family back. I absolutely loved it and can't wait to do it again. Although next time I hope David can go with us and share the drive, or one of the kids needs to get their license!

The kids very quickly have been catching up with their Wichita friends. I haven't seen Dawson too much, he's always finding someone to hang out with or somewhere to go.

This week is registration for school. I know 2 kids not looking forward to it. Keegan still has to read several assigned books and has some homework to do for her upcoming Literature class.

This blog is getting too long and I know none of you have extra time on your hands, so bye for now. I'll keep you posted on anything new. Please keep in touch with us, plus we would love any visitors to windy Wichita!

Be sure to scroll down the side bar to check out new pictures from our trip. They go down further then the new post. Naturally I did not get a picture of everyone. Dale and Brian did not make it up to Wisconsin so I didn't get their pictures. (Sorry guys)

A note to my Facebook friends, I have temporarily taken my blog off of Facebook.

Have a great rest of the summer. Hope you are not too hot in Phoenix, I sure don't miss that heat. Miss and Love all of you.

God be with you always.

Marjie

Happy 4th of July

Hellooooo everyone,

It's time for corn on the cob, brats on the grill, watermelon and root beer floats. Yum :)

This summer is going so fast. It won't be long and the kids will be going back to school. I always hate when they have to go back to school. I totally enjoy hanging out with them during the summer. Plus I love that I don't have to wake them up for their early morning routines.

What an exciting 4th of July in Wichita, KS. First thing different from AZ is that they allow people to buy and shoot off fireworks. We didn't go anywhere and saw more firework shows then we could count. Standing outside in the front of our home, you could see show after show. Plus our neighbors (college age kids) must have spent a fortune on fireworks. Non-stop they had little firecrackers to big roman candles going off in our cul-de-sac. They even gave some to Dawson to light. Naturally he thought that was pretty cool. It had rained all day so the grass was nice and wet, so no one was concerned of fires breaking out.

Here's what was really cool, there were a million fireflies out in our back yard. They had their own celebration going on! Luna (our dog) was a nervous wreck. Shaking like a leaf, she was not happy at all from all the noise. It was crazy and fun last night. People have until 10pm tonight to finish up their supplies, then it will be illegal again. Hopefully my dog will be back to normal tomorrow.

This week the kids and I will be leaving for our Wisconsin vacation. I have to say just shortly after driving across the country to Arizona, I am not too excited to drive again! Although, wanting to see my family out ways the bad thought of driving. We will only be there for a week, but we have a few neat things planned. I will write and tell you more after we get home.

I have attached a few more pics from our trip to Arizona. Be sure to look down the side bar.

I'm hoping the weather will be nice in Wisconsin. I am already positive the company and food will be outstanding.

We miss all of you in Arizona, and looking forward to seeing all of you in Wisconsin.

God bless you,

Marjie

"There's No Place like Home" WOW, did I just say that?

Hi everyone,

My sister will be glad I am posting a new blog, so her 50th birthday wish is not the top of the news anymore! Right Linda?

We have been back from our trip to Arizona a little less than a week. We had mixed emotions returning to Wichita. It was so unbelievably nice seeing our family and friends, and so hard to leave.

I guess it was only normal for each of us to compare the two cities, Phoenix vs. Wichita. Maybe all of you would think we would like Phoenix more, but strangely enough we were all glad to be back to our new home here in Wichita, with the exception of leaving all of you again.

It is nice to know we can pack our bags and tear off to Phx in a days notice. The drive wasn't as bad as we were afraid it would be. I for one had flash backs and terrible anxiety when I thought back to our original trip from AZ to KS. Top speed being 45 mph! And the fear that David and Dawson were going to roll off the mountain top pulling the U-Haul that was swerving all over the place. Keegan and I frantically watched them while we were following them in the other car. Plus many more crazy things that happened during our trip, but not worth mentioning.

We are so thankful to God that our trip planned to Phoeinix was during this time, since our son (Ben) in Arizona was put in the hospital just before we left Wichita. I am not going to write about what all took place from beginning to end. Only that we were so thankful to be able to be there with Ben and our family.

I shouldn't be surprised, but I was so amazed at how many people love Ben. He had more visitors in the hospital than people that I even know. One visitor after another. Even in large groups they came visiting. The Dr's. called him a chick magnet! He is such a funny guy, he had everyone laughing most of the time. He is an inspiration to me. You can tell he loves life and people swarm to him because he is such a unique individual. He is loved so much and he is such a blessing to us from God. I don't think he realizes how many lives he has touched.

The good news is that Ben is out of the hospital, and starting his road to recovery with chemo and physical therapy. Thank you to everyone for your past and continuing prayers. There is NO better medicine than the power of prayer.

I will write again soon with more happening during the kids spring break. For now I just wanted to let you all know we got home safely and David and I are back to work. After leaving AZ we are both very thankful to have our jobs. It seemed like so many people we know in AZ have been affected by the economy. Maybe it was a good thing we left when we did.

Pictures are attached of our family with Ben in the hospital. I will attach more pics of our trip to AZ at a later time.

We will be leaving for Wisconsin the middle of July. Looking forward to seeing my side of the family too.

Please know that God loves each and every one of you and He hears your smallest thoughts and prayers.

Love and {{{hugs}}} to all of you,

Marjie

Photo slideshow generated with Smilebox

Happy Memorial Day

Good morning everyone,

I love the mornings here. The air is fresh, the birds are chirping, the flowers and trees are swaying, I have my coffee, and everyone is still sleeping. How much better could it be?

People here in Kansas don't give their State much credit. I know I am somewhat still in denial, and it's hard to admit it, but I have to say, I think... I really like it here. I only wish it were another name than Kansas! Isn't that terrible? When we were leaving AZ we got harassed a bunch when we told everyone we were moving to Kansas. Here in Kansas, we get harassed even more that we LEFT Arizona. What's up with that? I think I need to start a club here and help the people from Kansas to be proud of their State and see how nice it is here. Wichita is such a pretty city. The downtown is so quaint. Many old buildings with lots of beautiful structure, some buildings are over 100 years old. The homes here are so magnificent. Great big old mansions. In the suburbs, the newer homes are equally as beautiful. I keep thinking I am only trying to look at the bright side of having to live here, but I think I really do like it here!

David is our non stop explorer. We all know if we go for a ride with him, we are in for a long day driving everywhere. Not just Wichita, all of the small towns around us. We each nod off at different times, but it is enjoyable to have our family together exploring new territory. I love that David is learning about our surroundings.

The kids have been out of school for a week. They are both happy children. :D

I never saw Keegan smile so much. She is really soaking up relaxation. She has written several short stories, and a few screenplays in her first week off! She has been reading books that most of us would never pick up. (Literature that is too hard to comprehend) She has had a picnic with her friends. She is in a summer book club arranged by her high school. They meet and discuss their weekly scheduled book. To most of us this ALL sounds a lot like school, huh?. If you know Keegan, reading and writing is her paradise! Oh, she and I have watched a lot of movies. I did miss that we couldn't spend our movie time together during the school year.

Dawson on the other hand has been busy with his friends. They play basketball nearly every day. He is getting really good at half court shots! (I'm impressed.) Most of the time he is going to friends or they come over here to visit. He spends a lot of time on the phone with the girls! Although I have to say I am glad that he talks to them on the phone, instead of just texting them. There is nothing like hearing the voice on the other end. I think it is much more personal. I have to look at old pictures of my boy to remind me of how sweet and cute he was when he wanted to cuddle with me and loved his mommy more than anyone. (Sorry David!) Don't get me wrong, I still think he is cute, or should I say handsome. And I do still get big bear hugs from him. Actually he walks up to me often, I think he is about to hug me, when in fact he only wants to remind me that he is taller than me!! (I am now the shortest one in my family) Oh well, who cares, right? I do love how Dawson has grown into a young man. It's hard to remember he is still 13, because he acts more like 15. If you didn't read my earlier blog about Dawson's Lacrosse team, be sure to check it out.

I feel like time is going to go really fast now with both kids and it will seem like in no time they will be off on their own. It makes me so sad to think about it. I need to quickly get back into my hobbies. Before I know it they will both be gone and I will not know what to do with myself.

David's and my schedule are opposite of one another. He works evening, I work days. He's off on the weekends and I work the weekends. Occasionally they give me a weekend day off. We do this on purpose so one of us can be available for the kids. Mostly to be their taxi service! So I guess once the kids are on their own we could make our schedules mix together. Why am I thinking about all of this now? Maybe to prepare myself, huh?

Naturally I have attached a few pictures. I thought it would be appropriate to remember a special day before we left Arizona. Our family got together on a very, very, HOT day!! We had a memorial for David and Marion's father. The photo is a picture of their parents, Francis and Phyllis Hughes. We miss them both and think about them often. Even though it was so hot outside that day, it was still fun skipping rocks in the lake and seeing the entire family together.

It won't be long and we will be in Arizona visiting our family and friends. The kids are so excited to see their old friends again. I know we will be driving them around the entire time. I read on the Internet the weather was supposed to be 113 degrees by the time we arrive. Yippee, I can't wait to feel that oven blast heat in my face!

I need to close for now and get outside to enjoy my morning in Kansas! :)

Love and God's blessing to you all,

Marjie

Hip Hip Hooray for Dawson!

Hello Hello,

First some really cool news. Dawson's Lacrosse team took 1st place in the city league. The last game of the season he scored several goals and assist with several other goals. He has turned into a really good player. After the games were over last weekend, they had individual competitions. They clocked the speed of the kids throwing a ball from their Lacrosse sticks. Dawson won the award for the "Fastest shot competition " for 7th & 8th grade boys. He received a really nice trophy for it. Their team also received a trophy for taking 1st place. I've attached a few pictures above. I will attach a picture of his team trophy at a later time. The picture is on David's phone, so I need to get a copy of it. We are so happy for Dawson, it was his turn to shine.

I want you all to know something. I receive notes from many of you concerned about Dawson. Afraid maybe I talk about Keegan too much and get a lot more pictures of Keegan than Dawson. Well, getting him to pose for a picture is like pulling teeth! Finally today I begged him to get dressed back up in his uniform (almost a week later) so I could take his picture to show all of you. Last weekend I had to work during his game, so by the time I got home, he was showered and his trophy was sitting on the counter. Plus he doesn't like his picture taken very much. I try not to drive him too crazy with it. Keegan is always a little more willing to pose for me.

Today I struck gold! I got several pics of Dawson. I even snuck a few while he was getting his hair cut. I had to bribe him with food, but we finally did it. I told him just as soon as school was out was the big haircut day. I actually think he likes his new haircut. It has to feel good. Hopefully it won't be shaggy by the time we go to AZ.

I have attached some "before" and "after" pictures of his hair!

This blog is only about Dawson. David and I are very proud of him. He did a great job in school this year. He has a ton of new friends. I think he has become pretty popular in his new school. He has so many friends I can't keep them straight. I think he also has discovered he likes girls. Although Dawson hasn't ever been shy around the girls! He has always had them for friends. Oh, by the way, I had to edit my blog this morning. Dawson informed me yesterday he has a girlfriend now! Her name is Raven. He showed me her picture, she is a very pretty girl.

Soon we will be back in AZ to visit our family and friends. Please pray for us to have a safe trip.

God bless you.

Love,

Marjie

We have a star in the family

Hello,

I've got to brag. Sorry, don't read if you don't want to hear me carry on.

Keegan has had such an awesome year at her new school. Besides her classes being so tough and had so much homework with very little social life. She has shined in her Drama class. She became a Thespian this year. If you are like me, you are probably saying "a what?". That's when you put in a certain amount of hours working in Theatre. Whether it's on stage, lighting/tech, directing, going to other shows, helping in any way with Theatre. At the end of this school year the Thespian officers nominated students for certain awards. Such as Best Actor, Best Supporting, Best Debut, Best Dancer, Director, Singer, etc. All together there were 21 categories. Keegan was nominated for 5 categories. In each category there were 6 students nominated. We were so proud of her. She is only a sophomore. Most of the students she was going up against were juniors and seniors. They are all a VERY talented group. We have thoroughly enjoyed every performance they put on. Keegan was nominated for Best Actress in Leading Role, Best Actress in Supporting Role, Best Actress in a One Act, Best Debut, and finally Best Kiss!! Okay I will explain the Best Kiss for those who just dropped their mouth open. She was in a part "Midsummer Night's Dream", if you know the Shakespeare Play, she was "Helena". Two guys had a spell put on them, so they were both madly in love with her. In one scene they were both on there knees on each side of her, holding her hands and started kissing each hand! I know that sounds weird, but it was hilarious. The entire time they were kissing her hands, she was upset with them, yelling in Shakespearean how rude they were. The audience was roaring, it was so funny. I wouldn't be surprised if her friends end up putting the scene on UTube!!

She went to her banquet last night. She ended up winning Best Supporting Actress, Best Debut, and Best Kiss. She brought home 2 big trophies. They didn't give out a trophy for Best Kiss, but the three of them had to get up in front of everyone and re-enact the scene. She also received a "Letter" for Theatre. I've attached some pictures of her night of fame above. Also scroll down on the side to see a few more pictures. If you scroll down even a little further, you will see the pictures of her dressed as an older women in "Flowers for Algernon". That's the play that she won the Best Supporting award for.

David's and my heart sang last night when she told us how happy she was that we moved here. That was worth so much to us, since we broke her heart a year ago when we told her we were moving to Kansas. God is so good. Only He knew how happy she would be.

I'm sorry if I have bored you, but I had to tell all about our excitement.

The kids are counting done the days for school to be out. They both are excited for our trips this summer to AZ and WI. I hope AZ isn't too hot when we get there. I do NOT miss the heat at all.

I am going to plant flowers today. For Mother's Day David and the kids gave me money to buy flowers for our yard. It was so hard to choose what to buy, so I will start with a few and add on later. I have attached my flower pictures on the side, be sure to check them out.

It has rained off and on all week. Everything is so lush and green. Our backyard is beautiful again. Lots of bunnies & robins hopping around.

I have the day off, so I need to get busy planting.

May God be there for you through everything.

Cant' wait to see all of you this summer.

Love, Marjie

Our First Tornado Experience!!

Hi everyone,

I'm happy to say that experience is over with. We had our first tornado scare. We were ready for it to hit us, that's how close it was to us.

Dawson and I had stopped off at the grocery store after leaving his school yesterday. It was pretty windy when we went into the store, but nothing unusual. When we walked out of the store the sky was a weird color and the tornado sirens were blaring. We knew it was for a tornado, but we didn't know if it meant a watch or a warning. Dawson called home to let Keegan know we were on our way since she was alone. As soon as we got home we turned on the TV weather station. They instructed everyone in Wichita to start preparing to take cover. The funnel clouds were heading for the west side of Wichita. We live on the northeast edge of the city. Across the street from a small town called Bel Aire. We started grabbing pillows, blankets, water, food, and a few other important things we wanted to keep safe. I kept watching the sky from our basement window. It was still that weird greenish gray color. It was about 5:20 pm. The weatherman then reported the funnel cloud was in the area of Hwy 96 and 45th street, heading for Bel Aire. It was soon to be in our area. The sky became as dark as night. That's when the kids and I decided to take a moment to pray together. It was hard to believe, but it seemed like we were next to be hit by a possible tornado. As fast as the sky went dark, the weatherman then reported the tornado had dispersed and was no longer a threat! The sky became light again and started to rain pretty hard. We were so relieved. I went upstairs to make dinner. The rain quit, the sun came out. We went outside to look at the bright sky and there was the biggest, brightest rainbow you could possibly imagine. Spreading from one end of the sky to the other. The kids and I were so amazed how beautiful it was and how fast all this weather change took place. Welcome to Kansas, huh? Actually I'd like to believe our last minute prayer was very powerful. Our neighbor lady was so thoughtful. At the beginning of everything she came to our house to make sure the kids weren't alone. I am so happy she took the time to make sure they were OK.

The good thing out of that whole experience, is that the kids went through what needs to be done in case they are ever alone. Me too, It's been so long since I have been in that situation from living in Wisconsin. I have to say I don't remember a time being so close to the real thing. I do like that this city seems to be very experienced and knows how to prepare everyone for a tornado. Unfortunately it's because they've been hit in the past years so hard.

I was sorry to read this morning that Oklahoma did get hit hard yesterday. Reading about it made me feel sad and a little too close for comfort.

Once again I didn't mention David through all of this. The poor guy had to work. You know the Post Office saying..."Through rain, sleet or hail"... they had to keep working! (Whatever their saying is, I don't know what it is!!) Apparently their building is supposed to be tornado proof. There aren't any windows and the walls are made of some special thick heavy cement of some kind. I don't know, I just think they don't want to stop them from working no matter what. Kind of stupid if you ask me, but thankfully the funnel clouds were not in his area, so we didn't worry about him. Although I know he was real concerned about us. He was listening to the radio while everything took place.

After it was all over, Dawson got on his cell phone and had to tell his Arizona buddies the exciting news. Keegan had to go back and finish her homework!

I don't have any tornado pictures, thank goodness! Instead I have attached a few pictures of the kids and their cousin's Brian and Daniel from Illinois, when they were here visiting us during the New Year. The pictures are of "The Original Pizza Hut". It was opened in June of 1958 right here in Wichita, Kansas. Hey I was born in June of 1958, about 1 week after it was opened!! It is no longer open and it has been placed on the campus of Wichita State University. See we have something to brag about!!

I have the day off and I want to do a lot of things today. Thanks for following my blog. I understand if you don't have time to read it every time I write. Strangely I have found that I enjoy writing on it, maybe to express myself? I don't know... who cares why, right?

A few blogs ago I had asked if anyone could come up with a better word than "windy" for this city. Naturally a friend of mine from Wichita quickly said "GUSTY", that is a perfect word to describe our weather here on a daily basis.

Alright I need to go. Take care and keep in touch with us. We love and miss all of you.

God loves all of you.

Love,

Marjie

Happy Mother's Day

Hi everyone,

Hope all of you mother's are doing something special for yourself today. Even if you don't have children and you have your loving pets, you are still a mom to them. This wish is also for you special Aunt's out there that are like mothers to us.

I love Mother's Day, because I was so close to not having a family. To this day a feel so blessed to have such beautiful children. Only God knew I wanted and would love being a mom this much. It has probably been the most wonderful thing I have done in my life.

I also have a beautiful mom, Diane Gorder. She is so special to me. I woke up this morning thinking about her, wishing I could visit her today. It would have been so neat if I could have surprised her by dropping in today. Mom really had her hands full with 4 of us. I probably gave her the hardest time of all of us! Actually... I'm sure I did. Sorry Mom!! To this day, even though Mom has MS and her arms and legs don't work very well anymore. It is her soul and her character that I love so much. MS might affect her body, but it will never touch that most precious part of her.

See how mushy I am on Mother's Day? I am thankful to God and never want to take being a mom for granted. For me it has been the greatest gift in my life.

The picture above is my Mom. I love you Mom. :)

God bless all of you.

Love Marjie

Joined Facebook this week

Hello again from Wichita,

Since I have so much free time (lol), thought I would add another thing to my busy life! I always thought people who didn't have anything better to do joined Facebook, MySpace, etc.

Since we have moved in the middle of the country and don't know many people, I guess I want to keep in touch with everyone the best way possible. Now that I'm hearing from a lot of you, I have changed my mind and think it is a great means of communication. I love seeing all of the photos so many of you have posted.

This week is a very stressful week for Keegan. She has this permanent look on her face that is too hard to describe. She has her Drama production Fri & Sat evening. Plus she has an important test on Friday for the International Baccalaureate Program (you've heard me refer to it as the IB Program). The kids have been studying for weeks, maybe months. Even during lunchtime they meet in the classroom to study. The test will determine what type diploma they will be working towards. Keegan doesn't usually stress out over test. This one is kicking her butt. I know she will do fine. Even so I have been praying for her to have peace of mind. If you read this before Friday, I hope you too will pray for her to relax as much as possible.

Dawson's Lacrosse team had their tournament last Sat. They didn't do very well. The other teams were from all over, even Oklahoma. They were huge kids. Dawson looked small next to most of them! It was a great time for him and he gained lots of experience.

Both kids are counting down how many days are left of school. I was informed 16 days, counting today.

We are planning 2 trips this summer. In June we will be visiting Everyone in Arizona, then in July we will be in Wisconsin. Hope to see you.

The weather has been gorgeous this week. Not so much wind. I was waking up one morning and realized my wind chimes we not playing. I ran downstairs to check on them. I thought one of my neighbors had stolen them. Not because they wanted them, but to shut them up. They were still there. I take all my bad thoughts away! :)

I have to get ready for work. Have a great week. If you are on Facebook, say hi to me. Also David and Keegan are on it. Guess we all want to keep in touch with our friends and family.

God be with all of you.

Love,

Marjie

Spring time in Wichita

Hellooooo everyone,

I'm finally back!

Sorry I haven't written for so long. Besides being so busy, I was sick with a terrible cold/laryngitis's, had pleurisy, and then hurt my shoulder. I'm not sure how I hurt my shoulder, but it was so painful, it hurt to walk, sit, and lay down. So I didn't get much sleep or get much accomplished. I am finally getting caught up on my cleaning and every day stuff. I still have to be careful with my arm. I can tell it is very weak and wouldn't take much to hurt it again. Maybe I pulled a muscle or over worked my shoulder. I did go to the Dr., not for x-rays, but to get a pain killer and to receive a written excuse for Home Depot so I could still work but not lift anything. Luckily I had 6 days off during Easter time to recover.

Since I last wrote Keegan has been to NYC/Washington D.C. during spring break. I will NEVER be able to express the outstanding time she had. She is still talking and referring to her trip. They did so much. What a wonderful opportunity she had with her Drama class. Her teacher takes them every other year. Guess who has already decided she wants to go again her senior year?

Keegan has performed in a few more plays. She is getting larger parts every time. The last play, she was so good in ("Flowers For Algernon"). Everyone really enjoyed her character. She had to be a very mean mother to her retarded son. She ended up going insane by the end of the story. Some parts she broke my heart, because she was so believable! Next weekend she will be in her last play for the year. There are 4 main parts and she has 1 of them. ("A Mid Summer nights Dream"). She has been loving every minute of it. We can't wait to watch her again. Her talent of acting must come from her Uncle Dick. It sure didn't come from David or I!!

For the first year ever, I think Keegan is looking forward to school being out. She is so close to being burnt out with homework. I feel so sorry for her. It is such a hard rigorous program that she is in. Sometimes we wish she would just get out of the IB Program and take the easier road. Next year will be so much tougher than this year. We have to leave the decision to her, and she wants to stay in it. Many of her classmates have dropped out. So far none of her immediate friends have.

Dawson has also been doing a bunch of things. During spring break he and David went to Oklahoma City and Kansas City to watch basketball games, I believe it was 8 games total!

They spent a few nights in each city and explored the new territories. He had a great time and talked about it as much as the other kid that went to NYC!!

He is now on a Lacrosse team. I was so sad he wasn't going to play baseball this year, but he has truly loved playing this sport. He is on a great team. They won the state championship last year, so we were afraid he wouldn't get to play much since his teammates are so good. Dawson caught on quickly and is very good at it, and plays most of the game. He is the second tallest kid on the team, so that helps him a lot! We enjoy watching him play. It is a very fast paced game. I still don't understand the rules, but I know how they score!! This weekend he is in a tournament and extremely exciting to participate. Hopefully they will do as good as last year. The Lacrosse organization is through the city not his school.

Our son is now a teenager. He had his 13Th birthday this past week. He celebrated all weekend. One of his closest friends/classmate also had a birthday, so they enjoyed doing everything together. Dawson is also excited about school getting out in 4 weeks.

Oh I almost forgot, Dawson's computer tech class went to a competition at Kansas State University. He put on a demonstration for some computer program he had been working on. He placed 6Th in the competition out of hundreds of kids. He was the only one who placed in his school! We were so proud of him. I think he has found his calling. I'm so excited about him learning so much in this computer class. Their school is getting ready to do state testing. Dawson's computer tech teacher has him working on all of the laptops the students will be using to make sure they are ready for the testing.

I've been writing so much about the kids, I haven't mentioned David. He is doing good, still working hard and enjoying his weekends with the kids. Mostly Dawson, since Keegan is always doing homework if she's not in a performance.

I guess that's a quick version on what's been up with us for the past 2 months. Hopefully I won't wait so long to write til the next time. I have started up on Face book, but I don't have much on it yet.

One last thing...What is a better name for "windy"? There has to be a bigger name for it. I can't tell you how crazy it is. It feels like it's going to pick you up off your feet. You can feel the house shake. I want to shave my head so I can quit being concerned about my hair the second I leave the house! Before we moved here, people told me, who had lived here before, how windy Wichita is, I thought...oh quit being such a big baby, how windy could it be?? Well I'm here to tell you it is non stop. Not a little windy, a lot of WIND!! Do I sound like I'm complaining? I'm not sure, because it feels good, and my wind chimes sounds beautiful (although I'm not sure my neighbors agree!!). It just is windy ALL THE TIME. I hope it doesn't turn into a tornado. Every Monday at noon they test the tornado siren, It took awhile, but we finally got used to hearing it on Mondays.

The spring time is absolutely gorgeous here. I have taken a tons of pictures of the flowers and trees that blossomed. I also love the Robins, it just makes me feel so good to be able to enjoy this Spring season.

Okay, now I'm done writing. I've attached a lot of photos of the kids, so make sure you scroll all the way done the side bar. Please keep in touch. We miss and love all of you. God willing we will be able to visit you all this summer.

With love and God's blessing,

Marjie

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Hello everyone and Happy Valentine's Day,

As you probably guessed, I've been sooo busy. Thankfully Home Depot has been giving me a lot of hours these past few weeks. I was afraid the past month and a half I wouldn't get many hours. This time of year generally is slow. Maybe this means our economy is starting to turn around?

The kids have been loving the winter. They have had 2 snow days from school so far. Both days fell next to the weekend, so they had extra long weekends!

The kids have been busy with school/homework. They also continue to have fun with their new friends. Especially Dawson, he is always going somewhere with his friends. Dawson is now taller than me! Just 1 month ago I was 1/4" taller than him. Can you believe that? Keegan is still a little taller than him, but not by much. I keep telling him, he will soon be her "big" brother, so he needs to take good care of her. David and I have to remind ourselves that he is still only 12. He is very mature, so he looks and acts much older.

Keegan is very excited lately. Everyday she has been receiving a ton of mail from different Universities across the country. She recently took a PSAT test, so we think her name is now out to everyone. She has read every single letter. Plus she has received just as many e-mails from different colleges. I told her the best college will be the one that offers her a full ride!! I need to start praying, huh?

David is doing well. Still plugging away with work. Most of our excitement is keeping up with the kids. We did make a trip to Oklahoma City on Valentine's day. We didn't spend the night, but we did have a nice dinner before we left the city. We were surprised had glad we were to be home in Wichita. The traffic was very similar to Phoenix. That is one thing we don't miss at all.

I have attached a few pictures of our backyard again. I can't help it, I absolutely love our wooded area outback. A couple of weeks ago we saw a fox run through the woods. Because it was so white with snow, you could see him for quite a ways. Most of our snow has melted again. I almost expected to see snow today. It was so cold out with the wind blowing.

It's getting late, but I wanted to say a quick hi to everyone before I go to bed.

Good night. Love to all, and God bless you.

Marjie

Homecoming Dance

Hi everyone,

I finally got all of our decorations put away. I was afraid the outside was going to stay decorated until spring! Although I had to have Dawson hold the ladder for me because it was so windy.

Not much new has happened. The kids have four days off this weekend. They are both happy about that.

Keegan had a dance that she went to last night at her high school. I've attached a few pictures of her modeling her outfit. Meanwhile Dawson spent the night at his friends house. David and I had the night to ourselves. What did we do together? We watched the Saints killing our AZ Cardinals! Plus every moment I was getting sicker and sicker. Yes, I have a full blown cold now. I feel terrible. Luckily I also took off 4 days to be with the family. Hopefully I will feel better my last 2 days of my vacation, before I go back to work on Tuesday.

I have also attached a few more pictures above. One morning everything had a layer of ice on it. The trees were so beautiful in our backyard one day last week. I wish I could have gotten some close up pictures, but I had to go to work. The next pictures are of the kids snowman out back. All of the snow had melted except our snowman. We laughed so hard when we saw it. You can look at the snowman in my previous pictures if you want to see what he used to look like.

This week was really nice. It was in the high 30's, low 40's. Wait a minute, did I just say that those temperatures were nice?! Oh oh, I think I've been here too long, if I consider that nice weather. Compared to last week it was down in the single digits. That was bitter cold.

I hope you are all doing well. We miss and love you. We are in the middle of the country now, so anyone can come visit us.

God bless you,

Marjie

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year,

What a change from last year at this time. Who would ever have thought we would be here in Wichita, Kansas! It is so different from Phoenix. We look outside and the ground is all white with snow. It has only snowed 5 times so far, but I guess it is not very common for Wichita to have snow this early in the season. It has only accumulated to about 2 inches. When it does snow it is very pretty how it covers the ground with a white blanket. The evenings are so bright, I guess from the reflection of the snow? The kids are still fascinated every time it snows. During their winter break one evening while it was snowing, they went outside to play until 2:00 am. They threw snowballs, made snow angels, sleighed down our small hill out back and built a snowman!

My sister Linda and her boys Brian and Daniel, drove from Illinois to visit us and helped us celebrate the coming of the New year. We showed them around our city, played games and visited a lot. We were sad to see them leave so soon. They were our 1st visitors to our new home.

The kids go back to school tomorrow. Neither one of them are looking forward to it. They had such a nice winter break.

Christmas was very quiet for us. We opened presents in the morning, I made our traditional steaks for lunch/dinner, although usually I grill them outside. I tried to fire up the grill, in about 1 minute of being outside I changed my mind and decided to broil them inside! David volunteered to work on Christmas to make that extra buck and the kids and I played board games all day.

During the break, Keegan read a bunch of books and had a chance to leisurely write. Dawson watched a lot of sports on TV and played his PSP games.

I hope you and your loved ones had a wonderful Christmas. I pray that God will be with all of you this new year and He will bring you peace and joy. May you all succeed in whatever you do.

Happy New Year.

Love & miss you,

Marjie