A CHILL DOWN THE SPINE

One thing I love about living here , in Arizona , is all the history . There is so many cool things here . I love the fact , that the " real " cowboys and Indians where right here . Like Whyte Herp , Doc Holiday , Geronimo , and many others .

I live in the Black Hills , in a small miner town called Morenci . As you can guess , there are lots of ghost stories . The town down from me , is Clifton . It still looks like a ghost town today . Down in the cliffs is an old jail cell . This is where the outlaws were held . This was the first jail here in this little town . You can walk down to it and take pictures today .

My sister in-law came down here to visit us from PA . in March . So, I took here down to see this jail cell . This was also my first time to walk down into it . It was the creepiset place I have ever been into . I swear that there were ghost in it !!! It was cold and just gave you those chills like you get from watching a scary movie . Moths were everywhere !!!! And you could still see the skackels !

Here are some Pictures of my sister in -law in it .

LETTING THE SON SHINE

Growing up in the 80's , one of my fave. show to watch was " Growing Pains " . Yes , I was one of the many girls that had a crush on Kirk Cameron . It is so nice to see that he is now a Christian and not one of those childhood stars gone wild .

He is a great inspiration with the way he takes a stand for Christ . My husband and I love to watch his and Ray Comfort's show " The Way Of The Master " . It has helped us so much so that , my husband uses this in his everyday life . He also preaches it in his sermons .

If you have not seen any of these , check it out at www. wayofthemaster.com
You can also read about Kirk on yahoo news today . I promise you ..... it will challenge you and your life !

MY BOYS ON MOTHERS DAY

LUCAS AND JEREMY ON MOTHER'S DAY . THEY ARE WEARING THEIR MOTHER'S DAY T-SHIRTS ( MY MOM ROCKS ) :)

WHAT COUNTRY DID YOU SAY THIS IS ?

I thought here in America , we had the freedom of religon . That is the main reason our forefathers sailed here from England , so we would have this Freedom ! However , in the U. S. today , things are trying to change . It seems that congress is at it again . This time trying to pass a very scary law . A law forbitting anyone from saying anything against sexual inmoralality . The want to make it so that if this is preached on , or heard talked about in public , that you will be fined $5o,000 dollars or sent to prison . This is insane !!!!! If this passes , it would make it alright for some sick person to garb your child and have their way with them . You would not be able to do a darn thing about it . It would also make it legal for people to have sex in public ( meaning , gays and straight people , and child pretitors ) We need to be in prayer that this SICK LAW does NOT pass !!!!!! If it does it will make all wrong right . This sickens me that our country would even think of trying to pass such a thing !!!!!

PICTURES OF VACATION

STAR WARS RIDE

MGM PARK

Florida trip

I am back and some what jet lagged . The three hours between here and Florida are still effecting me . Our trip went well. There seemed to be a BIG healing between me and my in-laws . The acted wonderful !
We got into Orlando 12:30 A.M. last Sat. and then rented a jeep and drove an hour and a half to St. Petersburg . Why not fly into Tampa ? Well , my father-in laws Grad was at 10 in the moring and we thought it would be easier to be there , instead of driving in with no sleep . a few hours of sleep was better then none .
The boys and I stayed at the hotel during Grad . No way was I going to take my three year old to a long Grad . After ,we all went out to eat ,( oh , fresh sea food ..yum yum ). Then we drove to see my husbands Grandma . next , off to the mall I used to work at . All new faces at Macy's , it was Burdines when I worked there. By 9 we where in bed . zzzzzzz
Got up and left for Orando around 8:00 A.M. We stayed there because we got an awesome deal on a resort with Disney tickets . ( Westgate resort ; $179 for two nights and three days , two free Disney tickets ) It was a great place to stay ! Can hook you up if you wish !:)
Finally made it to MGM ! I love that park !!! We took Lucas to Play And Dine ( lunch with Playhouse Disney ) My in-laws paid , Thank God , it was not cheap but worth every dime .
We rode Star Wars ride , saw High School musical pep - rally , Narina , lots of charaters , and rode the coolest roller coaster ( Areosmith )
All went well there except for Lucas having the biggest fit ever !!!! Very embarssing . Can't do anything about it in public . So. we had to just deal with it !
Got up the next day and went to M&M world . Then shopping in down town Disney . My husband went diving at Epcot while the boys and I rested .
The next day we went to Sea World and more shopping . Then back to pack and go to bed .
The next morning up and to the airplane .
Next stop , home sweet home ! Whew !!!!!

HOME SWEET HOME

we made it back home , Wed. afternoon . Our trip went very well . I will post more on it later . Just leave you with a crazy thing . Gas in Orlando , was $3.99 a Gallon !!!!! Yes ...... That's right we paid $3.99 a gallon to fill up our rental !!!!!! This is getting INSANE !!!!

A MONSTER

Last night , after tucking in my three year old , he began to call out . " Ma Ma , help me . A monster ." My husbamd and I went into his room to get the monster out . My husband hit the floor yelling for it to leave . I called for to leave also . My son began to say " no , no " , and craweled under the bed . He then pulled out his cookie monster houseshoe . " Here it is ", he said ," the monster out ."

WIZ KID

The other day , we where driving along and came to a stop sign . My little 3 year old says ' " Look Ma Ma , an octagon . What ??? Then I realized , he was talking about the shape of the sign ! Very scary ..... I never have told him that one before .

DON'T MAKE ME GO !

Next week-end , my husband , two boys , and myself , will be headed off to FL . My Father - in - law is receiving his Masters . So , my Mother - in - law bought us air plane tickets to go to St. Petersburg, FL. I do not want to go . ( pout , pout ) Why , you ask . Well , I don't care for my Father - in - law . Many reasons why . As not to embarrass my family I will not go into details.

The plan is to go to the graduation ,then head off to Disney World . This part I am looking forward too. All except , my in-laws will be tagging along .:( It seems that they always manage to be a part of our vacations . Even on our honey- moon . ( Not the night but the next day , they all showed up ) They make me crazy !!!!!! I wish just for once , we could have family vacation with just the four of us . Is that to much to ask for ?

Wish me luck ! A 7 month old and a three year old on the plane will not be fun !!!

FUTURE AMERICAN IDIOL????

My 7 MONTH OLD SON, JEREMY , LOVES MUSIC. HE MOVES HIS LITTLE FEET AND SMILES WHEN A SONG COMES ON HE LIKES . THE FUNNY THING IS , HE SEEMS TO BE SINGING IN BABY LANGUAGE . AND HE IS SOMETIMES RIGHT ON KEY WITH THE MUSIC ! I GUESS IT RUNS IN THE GENS . TAKING AFTER HIS DADDY AND MOMMY. WE BOTH SING AND PLAY THE PIANO . MY HUSBAND CAN PLAY ANY INSTRUMENT AND PLAYS BY EAR . MAYBE JEREMY IS GOING TO TAKE AFTER HIM .

EASTER COOKIES WITH A MESSAGE

I found this last night and though it was really awesome .

Easter Cookies

1 cup whole pecans
1 teaspoon vinegar
3 egg whites
pinch of salt
1 cup sugar
zipper baggie
wooden spoon
tape
Bible

Preheat oven to 300 degrees

1. place pecans in the baggie and let kids beat them with the wooden spoon to break them into pieces. Explain that after Jesus was arrested , He was beaten by the Roman soldiers.
Read John 19 : 1-3
2. Put the vinegar into a mixing bowl . Let each child smell the vinegar. Explain that when Jesus was on the cross and became thirsty , He was offered vinegar to drink.
Read John 19 :28-30
3. Add the egg whites to the vinegar. The eggs represent life. Explain that Jesus gave His life so that we could have life.
read John 10:10-11
4. Sprinkle a little salt into each child's hand and let them taste it. Put the rest into the bowl. Explain that this represents the salty tears shed by Jesus' followers, and the bitterness of our sins.
Read Luke 23:27
5. So far the ingredients are not very appetizing. Add 1 cup of sugar. Explain that the sweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because He loves us. He wants us to know and belong to Him.
read Psalms34:8 and John 3:16
6. beat the egg whites with a mixer on high speed for 12 10 15 minutes , until stiff peaks form. Explain that the color white represents the purity in God's eyes of those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus.
Read Isa.1:18 and John 3:1-3
7. Fold in the broken nuts. Drop by teaspoon onto a wax paper cookie sheet. Explain that each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus body was laid to rest.
Read Matt. 27:57-60
8. put the cookie sheet in the oven, close the door and turn off the oven.
9.Give each child a piece of tape and seal the door. Explain that Jesus tomb was sealed.
Read Matt27:65-66
10. Go to bed. Explain that they may feel sad to leave the cookies in the oven overnight and that Jesus followers were in despair when the tomb was sealed.
Read John 16:20-22
11. On Easter morning, open the oven and give everyone a cookie. Notice the cracked surface and take a bit, the cookies are hollow! ON THE FIRST EASTER Jesus followers were amazed to find HIS TOMB EMPTY.
Read Matt. 28:1-9




I thought this was a neat way to tell the story of Easter . Hope you enjoy it and try this . Have a Happy Easter!!

A BLONDE THING

It was getting kind of late and we had just returned from our week-end trip to my parents . Seeing most of our laundry needed to be done , I quickly unpacked and threw clothes in the washer . I thought this would help things along in the morning .

I got up this morning , opened up the washer to remove the clothes ,and place them in the drier . sitting in the right corner was this soggy mass of something . I looked in closer and guess what it was. A diaper ! No , it was not a dirty one ( of coarse it would not have been by now anyway ) . Gel from the inside was everywhere . Not fun to clean up ! But I got it all out and the clothes rewashed .

Most would say , that this was a blonde's way of recycling ! Hope you get a good laugh out of this !

LONG SPRING NAP

I am now ready to take a very long spring nap . I have been suffering from spring allergies. So, I thought I would make a lunch to help me feel better . I made " Everything you can think of " chili , Strawberry Smoothies and a slice of German Chocolate Cake . Now I am very full and have a happy tummy ! So, I think I will hit the bed and bury myself in my Egyptian Cotton sheets and sail off to sleep for a while ( at least until the baby wakes me ) :)

I BELIEVE

Back in Sept . , during my C-section , I had a terrible pain in my chest . The Dr. showed me the EKG . It seemed my heart had an irregular beat. After the surgery , they did another EKG , still the beat was not right. All I could think of , was I am to young to have a heart problem !
At my 6 week check up , my blood pressure was sky high ! The Dr. said he was shocked I had not had a stroke!!!! So, he sent me to my family Dr . I was praying for God to make things right .I have to babies to raise !

The family DR. ran all kinds of tests ( EKG, Heart Gram and a Stress Test ) Just to inform you of the stress test , not fun! I went in and I was the youngest person in there . They called me back and put a cap in my arm , this would later be where they would inject the medicine to make my heart race. i was also injected with radiation . Then they did a Scan of my heart , in the rested state . I was then sent to the Stress Test building . After waiting for what seemed like forever , they called me back. I was hooked up top an EKG and then injected to the medicine. My heart began to beat faster , I began to get dizzy , they continued to inject! I thought I was going to die ! They called in heart DR.s because my heart was beating faster then it should have with this teat . " Dear God, please don't let me die " I prayed ! Finally , they let me go . I was to go eat ( the only time you will ever hear a Dr. say this ) a big hamburger , French fries and a milk shake ! After, I was to wait an hour and come back. They would then do another heart scan.

The test came back fine ! I had been born with a heart murmur , but guess what ! It was gone !!!! My heart was fine and beating normal! God had healed me ! The only thing wrong , was high blood pressure . So, I was put on meds.

I hated those pills ! They made me feel like I was on a bad high ! I prayed for God to continue to heal me and get me off this pills. The pills also made me bloat and gain weight , yuk !

I went in Friday for my check-up . My blood pressure was a little low ! Yes, low! My Dr. took me off the pills and said I was lucky . Well, my friends , luck had nothing to do with it . My God healed me !!!!

God, does not do half jobs . He does it all. It is in His time and His way. We may never understand but just have faith and believe! He is a miracle working God!

AWESOME DINNER

One of my favorite things to do , is to cook . I love to try new things . So, the other night i was feeling brave to try a new dish . I logged onto one of my favorite cooks website;www.rachaelray.com . I found an awesome recipe , chicken marvalsala papardelle with rosemary gravy . Out of this world !!!! It was propuably the best thing I have ever made ! I then made an apple crump cake with carmel icecream for dessert .

If you deside to make this , do not leave out anything it calls for . The wine is what makes it! I and my husband do not drink but I will use it to cook with . The alcohal burns out when cooked but will leave the flavor .

To find this recipe , go to www. racaelray.com . Look under todays recipes , at the bottom of the page is a list , go to dinners and you will find it there .

You will not be disappointed with this! It is amazing ! A great comfort food!

Whirlwind

This last week and week-end ,was one crazy time. My In-laws came in from Florida Wed and left on Sunday. Thank God time went by fast . And they did not drive me as crazy as they normally do. Why , do I say that , well ... they try to live our lives for us . And all they talk about is going to college so they can get different jobs. Mind you , they are 57 years old.

I kept them so busy . I took them rock hunting , tour of the mine my husband works for, and to Tombstone AZ., and my sons Birthday party . The sad thing was , my mother in-law, got sick from the heat . I told her to drink lots of water because the heat here is different then the heat in Florida.She had to go to ER because she did not listen to me .
Thank God , I won't see them for another year or so.

REFLECTIONS

It does not seem like the ripe age of 37 can really be upon me ! I still feel like I am in my 20's . Sometimes , I look at myself in the mirror , and think " O my goodness ! that can not be me!" It seems I look more and more like my Grandmother did at this age . I talk the same and feel the same but somehow do not look the same at all! It really depresses me . I thank God thatI have a husband that loves me no matter how I look . But I sure would kill to have the body I had at 18 ! Not have to wear glasses anymore ( I have had to since the birth of Jeremy . No moister in my eyes anymore ) not that I look that bad in them ...but still. And there is no way I will have surgery . Had a friend that hers went wrong . So, I am too scared. Oh well , guess Iwill have to live with the fact , We all get old some day ! :) But why me!!!!!!!!!!!

FUTURE HANDY MAN

This has been one of those days , when I hear ," Ma ma ", I hold my breath . What is he into now ?! So far , Lucas ( soon to be three ) has opened the drier and wanted to put up his laundry , Went to the stove and wanted to cook, tried to give me a bath and brought me a screw driver ( he had taking out screws in the breakfast nook !!!!

What next ?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It is driving me crazy but I can't help but go in the other room and laugh . Kids will be kids!:)