October Birthdays!

We have 3 grandchildren with birthdays in October! Tyler's is the 23rd his 11th, Jada's is 26th her 8th, and Tori is the 29th, she's 2! We have some cute grandkids I tell ya! Happy Birthday kiddos!
I also have a brother born in October, Jerry is 53 this year! Happy Birthday Jerry!

Here's a pic of my brother Jerry, I'll have to add pics of the grandkids as soon as Chad gets them uploaded to the computer!

Grandkids update!

Jennifer had her meetings with the kids teachers, I'm not sure what those meetings are but each parent has to meet with the childs teacher and review how well the kids are doing! So she called me with the update, and I'm really proud of the grandchildren! Griffin got all excellent on his report, his teacher said he is very imaginative, and is way above reading level and he is an excellent in his spelling, I knew that already as I've helped him with his spelling words before! He is also doing exceptional in his math skills, his teacher says he is bored and she is going to try to challenge him more! Jada, got a mastery on her report card, her teacher says she is a very creative child and does excellent in all her work, her only issue is she chats a lot, but gets her work done, however some around her can't get theirs done! Maddi is doing great too, but takes after her mommy a bit, in that she is very quiet and shy at school, but she is learning well for kindergarten! I'm so proud of these kids! Will post pics tomorrow the kids are coming up tonight to spend Halloween with us, so we can get some good pictures!

Abuse comes in many forms...

I've been thinking a lot about 'family' the last few days, and it has brought a lot of thoughts to mind. I think it is really hard for us to understand anyone who would intentionally or unintentionally hurt us, but it's just possible that the person didn't even know they hurt us, maybe they did but they were hurt and lashing out at us, or maybe they meant it, but those who meant it are not the ones I've actually ben thinking about, I've been thinking about those closest to us 'family' now we may not go out and befriend those in our families if they were not our family but they are and because they are don't we owe some sort of respect, loyalty, true caring and love? I think that Christ would expect us to treat our families at the very least as well as we treat our friends and acquaintances but do we? I'm having a hard time understanding why we can't all just love each other, now I don't mean we have to like what everyone does, we don't, but we should have some true heart felt feelings of good will towards our families. We should want the very best for each and every member of our family, close and extended, we should love them unconditionally, we don't have to like them and their every choice but we should feel love towards them. I think these days that maybe people in general are not as loving as they used to be. It is really sad to see, especially when it is your family members cutting you out of their lives. I think it is possibly even a worse offense to family members to pretend you like/love or care about them when in reality you don't. I don't think being fake is ok, I think that if you really don't love someone, then you shouldn't pretend to, because in the end you will only end up hurting and doing more damage to that family member. I am unsure how that should be handled but I'm a true firm believer that honesty is the best policy, even if it hurts! All in all if you do not truly care about someone in the long run it will hurt less if they know that instead of being led to believe you actually do care for them and then as it usually happens the truth always finds its way to the surface and then the pain will be unbearable for a time. Although for some reason God with all his knowledge chose to put us with our families, he believed we needed each other, I know he has infinite wisdom and I trust he knew what he was doing. I wonder then how do we fix it????

Lewis B. Smedes - Forgive & Forget: Healing the Hurts We Don't Deserve

"We attach our feelings to the moment when we were hurt, endowing it with immortality. And we let it assault us every time it comes to mind. It travels with us, sleeps with us, hovers over us while we make love, and broods over us while we die. Our hate does not even have the decency to die when those we hate die--for it is a parasite sucking OUR blood, not theirs. There is only one remedy for it. [forgiveness]

I think being forthright and open is the best way to start on the path to forgiveness afterall the reasons for the "dislike" may be a misconception or preconceived notion about the person!

Season Finale....Motorcycle Trip!

So we did our season finale. We headed to Laughlin, NV. we left Monday and spent the night in Mesquite. Arrived at the Colorado Belle in Laughlin on Tuesday, we took a lot of really cool pics in the Valley of Fire and Lake Mead. We spend 2 days there and then headed out to Lake Havasu City, by way of Oatman which was really a cool little mining town, and it looks much like it did many years ago, and there were lots of donkeys just wondering through town, very cool and they are even going to be opening up a gold mine real soon, they will be mining it again! We left there and went to Sedona, AZ. What a beautiful place, spent 2 days in Sedona just riding around checking out the sights and the city, it was great! We headed to the south rim of the Grand Canyon after our stay in Sedona, and all I can say is breathtaking! We hiked to a few different points and we had a really grand time. Next we headed home by way of Mexican Hat...although this was not an uneventful day, we got pelted by hail, sleet and rain and it was COLD!!! We spent the night at a cool place called the San Juan Inn right on the river and next day made it to Torrey, UT. what a quaint little town. Between Mexican Hat and Torrey we say the beautiful Glen Canyon and Fry Canyon area and the scenic byway 95 was just beautiful! But it was so so cold we got only a few pictures, but we do intend to do that part of the ride again next year in better weather! All in all we had a great 10 days of riding. Well almost 10 for me, we stopped at our daughter Jennifer's house in Spanish Fork and I actually bailed on Chad and rode home with Sarah in the car! The following link should take you to a slide show of a few of the pics we took, we will upload some more once Chad is finished with them!
http://s645.photobucket.com/albums/uu180/clppete/Sedona/?albumview=slideshow

Just around the corner...time sure flies!

Thanksgiving...6 weeks and 5 days...this year has been a hard year for us, however we have lots to be thankful for and we have just a short list:
1. We are fairly healthy, other than our grandkids with the swine flu but they are doing better!
2. We still have a home...lots of people lost theirs this year, we feel for them.
3. We have our family mostly intact, and what isn't we haven't lost hope for.
4. Our job loss has allowed us a ton of hours of time together, we've gotten closer as a result!
5. We still have food to eat everyday...lots of people had to eat in soup kitchens this year.

That's just 5 things to be thankful for...we will continue our list on Thanksgiving!




Christmas...10 weeks and 6 days until we celebrate the birth of Christ...that's another thing we are thankful for...Christ and his sacrifice!
We are looking forward to family time,,,good times as little Jada would say!

Aaaaannnd we're off!

So Chad has decided we need to go on "one more" ride, I've heard him say that before! So he has mapped out a plan for us. We are going to Laughlin, NV. and then to Sedona, AZ., then who the heck even knows, he likes to fly by the seat of his pants a lot! He even has outfitted me because he wants me to "stay warm", if you have read any of my other posts, when Chad wants me to go on a ride, he always promises the weather will be good and I won't get cold, no way. But per the usual, the weather "changes" and I end up freezing! So whether he did it for selfish reasons or cause he really cares who knows, but the thing is it's was really nice of him...
We even took a ride up to the Shooting Star to visit with our great friend Carol last night to test out all the gear, (Carol and Chad have been great friends for a lotta years, and when I came along she took me in just like she had known me for as many years, we sure love her)now let me tell you getting it all on and hooked up is a bit painful, but it was well worth it!

Heated jacket...$179.00










Heated pants...$139.00










Overpant/rainpant...$49.99








Me all warm and cozy behind Chad on our Honda Goldwing....PRICELESS!

Cancelled officially...

Sarah has now totally broken off her engagement. We know it was a wise choice for her, she just wanted different things in life and came to the realization they were not headed down the same road. She is doing ok with her decision and says she feels very at peace with the decision. I'm sure the right guy will come along for Sarah & Keleigh! She had to be tested I think so she could know for herself what she wants out of life, she passed the test and did not compromise her ideals, morals, or beliefs. We are very proud of her! She will find the "one" and besides I got a sneak peek at what she will look like as a bride, that's always a fun as well as emotional time for a mom! She is beautiful...

Swine flu hits home!

Just found out Maddi has swine flu, so please keep her and the rest of the family in your prayers! I'm really worried as I've heard the young ones are the ones having real serious issues with this flu. Maddi is only 6! There is also Jordan who is 1 and yesterday before they knew Maddi was sick Sarah and Keleigh went down to Jenn's for some sister bonding, and today they took Maddi to the doctor because she was up all night with a terrible headache and started running 102+ fevers. I am sure not looking forward to this flu season!

NASSIR Goldwing Rally in Montrose, CO!

Just one of the pics we took on our trip, will upload more later!
We ride a Honda Goldwing for those of you who do not know that about us, and we went for the first time to a rally and we had a good time and met some really wonderful people! I have been meaning to post about it but Chad had the pics and I kept trying to get those before I posted about our trip. We had a great time. We rode down with a John from Washington, and met up with a couple guys in Delta one Paul from Oregon and his brother from California. These guys were really quite the characters! We had fun on the rest of our journey to Montrose, taking lots of time off the road to take pics and explore! We got to the rally on Monday Sept. 14th and got our YELLOW t-shirts, now I never wear yellow, but I should have never said never, because I have actually worn it a couple times! We went for a lot of great rides. We met two couples from Canada eh! They were great and live near Niagra, (which is where next years rally is and we can't wait) in the mean time Bob and Anita said they have a spare room anytime we want to take a ride up to Canada! All these guys have 'handles' and we met a couple with the name Mr. & Mrs Tricky! I never got the story on that name :) Anyway we left on Thursday and headed to Pagosa Springs, CO. where we hung out in the mineral springs for an evening. Next day we headed to the million dollar highway! Wow spectacular is all I can say. The pics of all this beauty do not do it justice at all. If you ever get the chance to check out this part of the country, you must do it. We went to Telluride for a night, and Joe Cocker was there! Then we headed home! Now we are about to head out and take some time going to Oklahoma to see my mama, and then go take a tour of Arkansas, Tennessee, maybe Kentucky who knows, as I said previously I feel like we are becoming nomads! (and if we don't find jobs soon, we will be seriously)!

Isn't he a handsome man? I'm a lucky lady!

Yes I'm silly but I don't get to see Chad all dressed up too often, he hates ties! But he had a job interview today and I got him a nice sport coat to wear and played dress up with him, and now even if I say so myself, he looks great!!!!