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