This weekend was the 15th Annual GEMS (Gospel Express Ministries South) Benefit Auction.

 Friday was spent unloading the truck from OH and getting the gym set up and organized! The man in the suspenders, Dave Graber, is the guy who goes to auctions and businesses in OH and collects all these items for us! And the man in the white shirt gives his time to deliver the goods to FL!!

It took all kinds of people.....Smaller kids......

To older kids.....

To the big guys! The Covenant House guys are a HUGE blessing! They come every year to help unload and set up!!

Some were there to look cute..... 

Some assembled.....

some visited with those who assembled! 

Some wrapped utensils....

bagged apples.....

and got other furniture ready to sell...

It took many willing hands!! 

Just a few pics of some of the quality items that were sold!!

 

So today was the much anticipated day!

 The GEMS display case that Dan and I made. We needed to update a few family pics, but other than that, it was ready to go! Any tips on how to make it look more attractive? It seems kind of blah!

Get your bidders numbers here, with the friendly Ashley and Ruby! 

A HUGE thank you to Faith Mennonite Mission Church in Shellman, GA for sponsoring and making/serving a free pancake breakfast!!

Some happy recipients! 

And the Chicken BBQ is getting ready....

The seats are empty yet....but not for long!!

A staff meeting before the auction begins.....

The Lighthouse Children's Home girls always welcome us with a few songs! They always sing, "The Lighthouse" song....I love it! 

There's a lighthouse on a hillside 
that overlooks life's sea.  
When I'm tossed He sends out a light, 
light that I might see.
And the light that shines in darkness now
Will safely lead me on
If it wasn't for the lighthouse
This ship would sail no more.

Everybody that lives around us
says tear the lighthouse down
You know the big ships
they don't sail by this way no more
so what's the use of it standing 'round?
Ahh, but then my mind goes way on back 
to that stormy night, 
when just in time, oh thank God I saw the light
T'was the light from that old lighthouse 
that still stands up there on a hill.

 

Oh I thank God for the lighthouse
I owe my life to Him
King Jesus is the lighthouse
Upon the rocks of sin
He has shone a light around me
That I could clearly see
If it wasn't for the lighthouse
Then where would this ship be.

 

 

Auction time and the gym is full!! 

One of the wonderful auctioneers, Mr. Diem 

At lunch, these fine folks kept busy serving up dinners in the kitchen! 

A BIG, BIG thank you to everyone who helped in any way....planning, setting up, organizing, serving, buying, or whatever your role was! It was a great auction. 

God Bless!!

 

This song has been on my mind a lot today.....

Fall is showing her brisk face here in North FL! Yes, indeed!! This morning we awoke to a frosty 26* on our thermometer!! I knew it was going to be a cold night since it was already 34 last evening at 8 PM!!

Tonight there is a freeze watch out for our area again!! Our heater has been running this evening, but it's having a hard time taking the chill off. Our floors are cold, which means cold feet!  Might have to find a thicker pair of socks somewhere.....

Today was our church's annual bike hike. Last year we rode local on the bike trail in town, but this year we went back to St. Marks Trail in Tallahassee. We met in Blountstown at 8 AM. We left ahead of the others, to stop and get some gas diesel. (A big thanks to our neighbor, Jonas, for the use of his truck while he is in MO)

Dan didn't ride this year because of his recent hernia surgery. Which was kind of a blessing, since our trip today had a 2 fold purpose. We sold some furniture to a lady who lived very close to where we were biking, so he delivered that while we rode the trail!!  Another reason for needing a pickup today!!

 

 The kids and I and a few others were the first down the trail. After riding about 2 miles, Dan called and told me that the ones who hadn't left yet saw a sign on the restroom wall saying that the trail was closed part way down, so they all packed up and drove down 8 miles, past where it was closed. So those of us who had already started continued on, not sure what we would find......

Dave & Shannon Ziesemer family....

I'm guessing we went about 6 or so miles, when we came to the part where the trail was closed. Thankfully a road which had very little traffic ran parallel to the trail, so we just adjusted our route a bit!  There was one spot where the road was dirt and the dirt was so soft that our bikes just slid around, so we walked that short stretch. It was a nice break for our sore backsides!

Caroline, Darla, Danny, and Tamara

Usually we would bike the whole 16 mile trail, and then eat lunch at the park at the end. But this year, we decided to only go halfway and eat at a different park, which is much nicer, with a big playground for the kids. (Some of the mom's with small children and some of the older folks that aren't riding bike just go straight to the park till the bike riding crew arrives. They have the lunch all ready!!)

 So after a lunch of chili and veggies, chips, cookies and drink, we sat around and visited. It was a cool, windy day, so sitting in the sun felt much better than under the pavilion.....but look what happened!!  My face is so hot tonight!!

It was a good day! Turned out to be beautiful till the afternoon....now it's turned frigid again. I think my blood has thinned out in the last 5 years!! 

 

 

I'll leave you with a picture of our dog Mocha. He was attacked by some other dogs during the night Tuesday night. We woke up at 2 AM to him "crying" in pain. Dan bolted out of bed and chased off what he thought was one dog, but I saw 2 go running. Mocha was walking around and didn't seem to be hurt much, but the next morning he just laid on the porch and whined when he tried to stand up. It was a cool rainy day, so I took this blanket out and covered him up. He stayed laying ALL day, except for the few times we went out and got him to move a little. When Dan came home from work that evening, he suggested that we give him some children's pain reliever, so I added some to a bowl of milk and he slurped it right down. That evening yet, he started getting up and standing. By the next day he was more back to normal, but he didn't even move from his spot in the yard or bark when the Fed-Ex truck stopped by, so he still wasn't himself. *the Fed Ex guy wondered what happened....usually Mocha barks like crazy when he comes!!  Then by Friday he was back to his normal yippy, hyper self again!!  He really is a good dog!

It was fun looking back at previous bike hikes.....

Bike Hike 2008

2007

Bike Hike 2006

2005 

 

 I don't generally do something like this, but I have been encouraged lately that I am not alone in the messy house department!!

 So, my kitchen was about to drive me nuts. Last weekend the guys were gone, and Tamara and I spent a lot of time out of the house....we would come home and unload and leave again...then the guys came home and unpacked. Then it was back to school from 9-3 each day this week and I was gone Tues. and Wed. nights. All this combined made for a VERY messy kitchen. I had enough and was determined my husband wasn't going to have to come home to this mess one more night!!

This is the BEFORE:

And the AFTER:

 Yeh, it took me about 2 hours to get it all cleaned up!!  But it feels SO good to walk out there and see this!!

 I would have been mortified if someone had stopped in before it was cleaned up (so instead I put it on here for ALL the world to see!! ) Why do we (I) try to appear that I live in such a perfect world?? Yes, my house gets messy and No, I don't always keep after....in fact, it more often looks like the Before, than the After picture!! Ugh!! I know part of my problem is too much "cluttery" stuff with no permanent home for it! Someday I will achieve the desired organized home!! MAYBE.......

 But till then, we live, we laugh, we love.....we tolerate a messy house!!

 

On a side note....my son was messing with the candle I have burning in the kitchen and I told him I think he needs some work to do. He jumped up and down and said, "Yeh"!! I'm thinking "yeh, right"!! So I said, you want to go clean the hall bathroom and he said "Sure, Mom!!"  Okay, pinch me....I can't be dreaming!! I am feeling very blessed as I sit here and type and hear lots of noise in the bathroom! He even took the rugs out and shook them!  I will cherish these days while I can!

Outside my Window...the rain turned the grass green again and now the sun is trying to peak through. It is 61 degrees!

I am Thankful... for so many things....a warm, dry house....doctor's who were able to fix my hubby up.....my sweet kids....each one of my family members who I miss so much....and for a husband who loves me more than I deserve. 

In the kitchen....we just finished up school for the day, now I need to wash the mountain of dishes and clear the clutter off the countertops...I've had enough that messy kitchen!! Also, need to clean out the fridge and fill it back up with groceries in the very near future!

In the living room... The kids are playing....I hear laughter at the moment! 

I am listening....to Point of Grace Christmas music on grooveshark.com 

I am wearing...an old, comfy denim skirt and a faded orange t-shirt...and socks! Our floors are cold!

I am sharing....this picture of our kids taken 2 years ago this week!! They sure have grown a lot in 2 years!!

 

 

http://www.wildolivetees.com/blog/

 I'd love to win some of these beautiful Tee's!! 

So, the men of this house went to Talladega this weekend. Dan was blessed with free tickets from his friend Roy. 2 of the guys who were planning to go along backed out at the last minute and they couldn't find anyone else to go, so they took their sons along. Danny was so pumped!! It was a dream come true for him. They are on their way home as I type. I am going to take some Pumpkin Latte's over to Roy's wife in a few minutes and we will wait for the men to get home!!

 

Tamara and I had a really good weekend just the 2 of us! Friday morning we left the house before the guys did, to participate in a field trip to a Wastewater Management Plant. I have pics of that but decided to blog on that later! After the field trip, we went on to Tallahassee, grabbed lunch at DQ, then did a little shopping....or A LOT of shopping...mainly window, but we did get some Christmas shopping done! Then we ate supper at Cracker Barrel before heading home! Can you believe we only spent $3 more eating at CB, then we did at DQ. Fast food is getting SO expensive!!

 Saturday, guess what we did....went shopping again!! This time we didn't stay out so long. In the evening I did a little wash and we cleaned up the house some. Then we took our showers and laid in bed and watched a movie. Tamara had just read Hansel and Gretel a few weeks ago, and that was a movie we could watch on Netflix. She wanted to see how close it was to the book. I think that was a bad choice for a movie for her at night!! She was SURE she was going to have nightmares. I think she slept well!!

After church today, we took a packed lunch to the park and then road 4 miles on the bike trail....I'll share a few pics!

PB & J's are this girls favorite!!

A stop at the train....

My lovely daughter! It was so good to have some time with just her....we had a lot of good talks! I can't believe how quickly she is growing up!!

I am SO blessed!!

Our turn around spot...we could have kept going for awhile, but we were both ready to get home and relax!

Mr. Turtle

Smiling while the cars were driving over top of us!!

Almost back...

Yes, Fall is coming to N. FL!!

 

Goodnight Y'all~

A few weeks ago, Dan complained of pain in his lower abdomen, right above his leg. He was suspicious that it was a hernia. One morning he woke up and had a gurgling bulge, which seemed to confirm his suspicion!! So I set up an appointment with our family Dr. She confirmed what he feared, so we asked a friend who worked at a local hospital for recommendations for the needed surgery. Eric recommended 2 different surgeons, 1 male, 1 female. I called the male surgeon first, but he had a waiting list till November. The female surgeon could have him come for a consultation the next week. So we scheduled a visit with Dr. Goodpaster for Thursday, October 14.

Sitting in Dr. Goodpaster's office....after the visit, he went straight to work.

The consultation went well and he was scheduled for surgery on Monday, October 18. He needed to go to the hospital for pre-op bloodwork and possibly and EKG on Friday, the day after the consultation.

 Thankfully he didn't need the EKG! We spent most of Friday morning in waiting rooms. The lab work didn't take much time at all. Friday was Dan's day off work, so it was nice he didn't have to miss ANOTHER day of work. We did a little shopping after his appointment. I am on the sewing circle committee and part of my job is to buy gifts for people who had a death in the family or have been in the hospital. So we went to Lowes and got rose bushes for 2 families who lost their mother a few months ago and also bought a Hibiscus bush for an elderly lady who just had surgery. We also stopped at Big Lots to check out some trees I saw the day before that were on clearance for $10. Well, how surprised we were when we got there and they were reduced even more....to $2 each!! So, we bought us 3 Magnolia trees for $6!! Granted they hadn't been watered and looked like they were about to die, but we brought them home and planted them and watered them....I hope they do good. If not, we didn't lose much! If they do well, someone will get to enjoy some front yard shade in this house in the years to come!!

Waiting to get blood drawn...the kids went along for both of these first 2 appointments and were tired of waiting rooms till that was over. I figured we spent about  3-4 hours in waiting rooms in those 2 days.

So, Monday was the day! We got to the hospital at 8:30 and it didn't take long for them to call him back to this room where they prepped him for surgery. This room also had a nice big leather-like recliner that I got to hang out in during his surgery!! I spent most of my waiting time reading and playing Sudoku.

The surgery took about 1 1/2 hours, then he spent about 45 minutes in the recovery room till they wheeled him back to me. It took about another hour for the sedatives to wear off and for him to be able to get out of bed and get dressed. I felt so sorry for him...it was so painful! One time when he tried to get out of the bed, he just shook....so I helped him lay back down and covered him up for awhile again. I think we left the hospital around 2:30 PM and went and picked the kids up. He spent the rest of that day in bed....

That evening Eric came over to change his bandages. For some reason it made me feel very lightheaded to look at those incisions and the blood!
(His stomach looks so fat because they blew it up with air before surgery and it still hasn't all gone away yet! )

This is how it looked yesterday....we took off the white strips and cleaned it up and put regular bandaids on all 3 incisions.

 He really wanted to go to work yesterday, but the pain meds where making him so sleepy. So, he went off of them to just taking Excedrin, which helped big time! He was able to go back to work today!   I'm glad to have this behind us. Now, just to keep him from overdoing it! I don't think that will be a problem!

 Thanks to:

 * The Drawbond's for kidsitting on Monday (and making soft pretzels with them!)
 * Eric M. for being willing to come change his bandages
 * Our kids for being good helpers and being quiet while Dan rested
 * Dr. Goodpaster for the successful surgery
 * All of you who prayed!!

 I am loving this cool morning!! Our thermometer read 42 when Dan left for work and it's only supposed to get in the 70's today! I think we will hurry through our school work and spend the afternoon outdoors. There are shrubs to be trimmed and flower beds to be weeded. Jobs that I've been putting off till the cooler weather came!  So now I have no excuses. We'll just have to make sure we have plenty of ant spray since a bunch of hills popped up after the last rain! 

 On Saturday, I went yard saling all-by-myself. I was kind of hoping to find some Christmas/birthday gift for the kids. Not much success. I did stop at the Farmer's Market and bought one thing for Tamara! Also, the one yard sale had Women's clothes and I got myself 3 shirts. At that same sale they had lots of kittens to get rid of. Tamara and I went back later and got one. Our kitten seemed to have vanished sometime last week. I don't know if the coyotes got it (they were making lots of noise one night!!) or what happened to her....she is missed. This new kitten is a male and he meows all. the. time.  But a little girl is thrilled!! 

 Yesterday I was blessed by our whole church service.  After 2 weeks of feeling down and struggling, I believe things are looking up! It's like Dan posted on his facebook status...."The wifey is humming, all is right with my world!"  He is a great encourager and I don't know how I got so fortunate to have him!?? We were just talking about that yesterday. For as young and immature as we were when we got married....we both are blessed that each other turned out as well as we have!   Seriously!! 

 So today we hit the books again....
  Then later I need to call and arrange a surgery appointment for Dan. He has in Inguinal hernia that is causing him much discomfort. He saw our family Dr. last week and she thought he could probably wait awhile to get anything done....but he is feeling quite the opposite! It keeps bothering him more and more and then there is always the chance that it could get strangulated leading to more problems...not sure why she thought he should wait!?? So I am praying for wisdom which Dr. to call...thankful for a friend who works in that field and can give recommendations!

I am getting the itch to take pictures again. Life has just been so hectic and I haven't taken my camera on many outings! I think the cooler weather makes being outside more attractive, too! It's time to start thinking of family pics, too. A friend and I are going to swap our services and take each others pictures this year...which is excellent!!  Now to decide when and where and what to wear!! 

 I will leave you with a few pics from last weeks Ag Adventure field trip...

 Danny and Sam G.

 

Two of the wagon loads ahead of us....

Starting off in the sorghum maze....

Listening to the history of peanuts.....

 Each child who wanted got to pull up some peanuts....then we each got a bag of roasted and a bag of boiled peanuts to take home!! 

Trying to walk like a 6-legged bug...  Humans just aren't as coordinated, we discovered!! 

Checking out the FL soil...

Lunch time! We chose to eat under the tent to give the public school students on our trailer more space. It would have been crowded!!

Our group of kids....

More bug facts....

Learning about all the different types of pumpkins and other interesting tidbits. 

One quick shot of some of the pumpkins before my battery went dead! 

 I also have some pics from art class, but they will have to wait. It's time to get school started!

 Happy Day to you~ 

Check out this cool giveaway....hope to win!!

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