I spent the day in Scrapbook Heaven!

I had such a great day! My good friend Cheryl invited me to her house to do some scrapbooking. When I walked into the room, I was speechless! The room she uses for scrapbooking, used to be her guest bedroom. It is now the scrapbook room (store is more like it!). We could stay locked up in the room and have everything we need to scrapbook for at least a month without leaving. She is such a great teacher. I am new to scrapbooking and she walked me through my first page. I am happy with the final product. I have half a dozen other projects I can't wait to start. Hopefully next time I go we can do more scrapbooking and she can do less teaching. Thanks Cheryl! This was just what I needed today.

Not such a hot picture of me. I am all cheeks and no eyes!

Of all the awesome things she had, I loved her Cricut more than anything. It is sweet! It cut out the cool letters for Hayley's page. Cheryl has made so many neat things with it. Every time I asked, "How did you make that?" Her reply would be "Cricut". I want one of these babies!

Hayley's First Car

It is hard to believe but Hayley is now a car owner. When Debbie and Bron took Hayley back to Dallas after vacation, they hit the pavement hard looking for just the right car in her price range. She has worked hard and saved diligently. Aunt & Uncle kicked in a very nice gift and she found an adorable 2002 Acura RSX (she claims RSX stands for real sexy). She is very proud of it and I don't blame her one little bit. It is cute! It is a far cry from the tank I had for a first car! Enjoy it Babes and stay safe!

Dinner for 8

This year we started a Dinner for 8 Group -we call it "Eight is Enough". We didn't do it through church because it was sort of a last minute thought. Mike & I have dinner monthly (except when all our schedules are too full) with 3 of our favorite couples. Stacy & Carrie Bond, Juergen & Becky Olson and Robert & Karen Rickman. We rotate homes and have an absolute blast. Juergen & Becky cooked an authentic German feast that reminded me of dinner at Grandma's house. As you can see in the photo, Channel, their adorable doggie loves Dinner for 8. I keep telling JO that I am going to put her in my pocket and take her home! Stacy & Carrie wowed us with a Chinese family style banquet complete with dishes they ate while in China for Hannah's adoption. (Stacy missed most of the meal because he was working so hard cooking!). We had a Mexican FIESTA! at the Rickman's house. Karen's decorations were gorgeous. The food & margaritas were just perfect. When we hosted, Mike & I prepared Beef Wellington, potatoes & salad with pears & feta cheese. Robert brought enough wine from the store to satisfy the whole neighborhood. It is our turn to host again. We have so much fun I know the menu doesn't matter but everyone set the bar so high with their first meals, I'm already trying to come up with just the right thing to make. (I will get bigger photos next time.) I gotta go, I'm hungry!

Thursdays are looong days!

Thursday is a day that I usually dread but ends up being so fulfilling for me. Mike and I try to start Thursday by meeting for a cup of coffee in the morning. Since he works nights we don't get to see each other as much as we would like to so our short mornings together are a great way to start my day. He works so hard these days that I sometimes wonder if he is trying to kill himself before retirement! He has worked for HEB for almost 37 years and we both look forward to the day that he can say "so-long" to driving a truck and we can call the mountains of Colorado home.

After our coffee date I head to work for a full day at Concordia, then at 5:00 I start my volunteer work for Celebrate Recovery. CR is my very favorite ministry. It is a Christ centered 12-step program for anyone with a hurt, habit or hang up. Many people have the misconception that CR is only for people with addictions. It is that and so much more! There is something in this program for everybody and I pray it continues to grow at Concordia. I have met some true friends at CR and we are a family. We open the kitchen for dinner at 5:45 (tonight we had a cookout). It is a great time to fellowship. At 7:00 we have large group worship in the Sanctuary with great music and teaching by one of our gifted pastors. We then break up into small share groups for an hour and then all meet back for coffee at Solid Rock Cafe afterwards. I don't get home until almost 10:00 but I always feel so good after an evening at CR. I am closer to God than I have ever been and I have learned so much about forgiveness. I have also learned that "recovery" is a life long process and I won't be finished until the day I face Jesus Christ. If you'd like to come sometime, just let me know!

Well here I am!

My kids are big into Myspace & Facebook. I am way too old and boring for that stuff so my co-worker Nicole inspired me to create my very own blog. I have been meaning to get it started for several months now and a few nights ago I couldn't sleep so I got up and decided I would finally get it done. Well, I stared at the computer for what seemed like forever because I hit a huge stumbling block. I couldn't think of a name for my blog! Unfortunately, you can't continue with the creation process until you get that very important step done. Now that I have come up with my very catchy name, the fun can begin! Nicole is my role model on this project & her blog is awesome! I don't think I have nearly as much fun as her but I will do my best to document our family news and keep friends and extended family posted.