November was a Blurr!

I can't believe it is already one week into December! Where did November go? There was so much going on I feel like I've lost something. One of the things I helped with was the 50th Wedding Anniversary reception for my mother and father-in-law. The cake was beautiful! What a wonderful legacy they have given. Not many people make it to 50 years anymore. Happy anniversary Jim and Retha!!

Mom and Kylee and I also did lot's of baking for people for the holidays for our fund raiser to go to Uganda in February and not to mention babysitting and texturing the new house for Austin and Sara. They are finally in their new home, but with a long road ahead to find a place to put everything away.

BAKE SALE!!!!!!

Mom, Kylee, and I are having a bake sale November 14th from 8:00 - 12:00 in front of Pembrook's Salon on Main Street. We are trying to raise money for our trip to Uganda in February. There will be all kinds of goodies, so come on over and check it out!

Cakes, Pies, Cinnamon Rolls, Breads, Cookies and Candies. I will also have some gift items there for sale like Cookie mixes in a decorated jar and I think Kylee is going to have some gift items too.

We are also taking orders for Holiday baking. So, if you don't have time and would like us to help you out call me or my mom and we can whip something yummy up for you!

Dreaming of Africa

I am getting so excited, because we are starting to plan another trip to Africa. Plans are being made to make the trip in February to finish the water well and set a solar pump. At this point there is only five of us going, but we are confident that we can handle it. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would ever take a trip like this once, let alone twice. I thought it would be a once in a life time event last time. I've been getting my pictures out and reminiscing about last year and wondering what God has in store for us this time. We had some very amazing things happen last time. I am anxious to see all the people we met there again. We have kept in touch with some of them through email and facebook.

This time it is going to be a family event. My mom and dad are going with Justin and I and our niece Kylee is planning to make the trip with us also. It's a little scary venturing out on our own without our group leader, (Randy) but I know God is in control and we will be fine. I keep asking Justin if he knows how to set a solar pump and he just says "how hard can it be?" For me...... impossible, but he is such a McGyver kinda guy, I'm sure he can figure it out. I have FAITH in you, sweetheart! Plus, Abdu and Betty (the people we will be staying with while we are there) just had a brand new baby girl named Hannah that I can't wait to get my hands on. If you kept up with our Team Uganda 09 blog last time, Hannah is the new sister to Sara and Moses. It's gonna be such an adventure, I can't wait!

Uh, Oh....... No, No!!

Since Emma is on Fall break, I had all three of my kids all day today. I decided I would treat them to some fresh baked cookies, so while I was in the kitchen putting them on the cookie sheet, Hunter came running to me saying, "Jodi, Jodi, Uh, oh......no,no, Uh, oh.....no,no, and kept repeating it over and over. So I thought I might better go check out what was upsetting him so badly. This is what I found in the living room.

Emma and Ella love to take all the cushions off of the couch and line them up in front to make their club house. There was almost no room at all for Hunter to push his buddy around in the stroller and he didn't like that very well. This is nothing new to the girls, but obviously Hunter thought this was a big no, no. Sorry Marshalene if my granddaughters are teaching your son bad things. If you come in the room and all your cushions are on the floor, you will know where he got it! (LOL) But if that is the worst thing they ever do, we'll be happy.

We had to have a little cuddle time after naps and they were all pushing and shoving trying to all fit on my lap. Unfortunately, my lap isn't big enough for all three of them, so Emma being the biggest is usually sitting beside me. It is hilarious, Ella just really doesn't like to share Grammy's lap with ANYONE! Not Emma and not Hunter. Hunter just looks at her with this puzzled look on his face as if to say "what is your problem? I do believe this is my spot."

Amazing!

Yesterday's lesson in the Beth Moore study of Esther spoke volumes to me. I'm constantly amazed at how God works. Why, I don't know, I shouldn't be. God is good! After putting pen to paper, so to speak, in my previous post, God has been speaking to me in various different ways. Here is a portion of what Beth had to say on day four of our lesson this week.

Not only are you royalty, (the daughter of the King), but you also have been placed in your sphere of influence, regardless of the size you perceive it to be, "for such a time as this." Ecclesiastes 3:2 tells us there is "a time to be born and a time to die." God cut out those exact perimeters for you and me on the kingdom calendar so that we would be positioned on earth right now. Likewise,, Acts 17:26 tells us unflinchingly that God "determined the times set for [us] and the exact place that [we] should live. It is our destiny.

We can refuse to walk in obedience to God or cower in fear from our calling and He will undoubtedly still accomplish His agenda.

WOW!!! I've always said I'm so glad God knows what we need, exactly when we need it. Now my job is to be diligent in seeking Him to find out what His will is for my life at this very moment "for such a time as this." I am praying for open doors and that He will reveal to me what my passion is in my sphere of influence, regardless of the size I perceive it to be.

Restless!!!!!!

What is this??? It is driving me nuts. This restless feeling inside of me. I'm 47 years old and I still do not know what I want to be when I grow up. Why can't I figure this out? One would think by the time you are a grandma, you would already have it figured out. I really enjoyed working with my Dad for 27 years. It gave me a sense of accomplishment every time we finished a job, but it was getting too hard on my body. I always wanted to be a stay at home mom, but it never worked out, because it always seemed to take both of us working to make ends meet. Now for the last two and a half years I have been at home, babysitting for my two granddaughters and Hunter. It does give me a certain sense of freedom and I am so thankful I have been able to do this for Sara and Marshalene. Please don't get me wrong, I LOVE doing this, but it leaves me wondering sometimes "Is there something else I am supposed to be doing?" Friday I was about to lose it thinking I just wanted to get out of this house. I miss seeing people.

I have plenty to do as I have taken inventory of activities I am involved in. Shall I list them? Let's start on Mondays: Mentoring Holly, teaching Bible study, MOPS mentor mom once a month, Music board meeting once a month. Tuesday: Keep Hunter, Wednesday: keep Hunter and Ella, Bible study, which I will take over teaching for Amy in a a couple of weeks, Choir and/or Worship Team practice. Thursday: FREE, Friday: Keep Ella, go to Enid to exercise. Saturday is generally free and Sundays is filled with church activities. Not to mention Women's Enrichment committee and Deacon Board, Greeters at church, so why do I think I need to add more to this list? I've been searching the internet for a job I could do at home, but I realize that most of those are scams. So if anyone knows of anything fun and exciting job wise let me know! I'm too picky though, I still want my freedom. I'm probably going back to Africa in the next few months.

This morning we had a MOPS steering team meeting to plan the next MOPS meeting next week and it occurred to me that I think I need them way more than they need me. I have had so many changes in friend relationships in the last few years that I really don't know where I belong. I have been praying that God would give me some new healthy relationships and I feel like He has heard and answered. I still have a few very dear friends that mean the world to me. It seems like we are all in different stages of life, so it is very hard to get together. I do not want to replace them, I just feel like there is always room for more girlfriends of all different ages.

OK, please forgive the rambling, just thought it would help to write it all down.

Unruh Cousins Reunion

Last Thursday we headed out after Justin got off work, we picked up my mom and made our way to Guymon. We got there about 8:30 and spent the night there. The next morning we left and drove to Alamosa, Colorado to pick up my dad who had been Elk hunting the week before. After a really good and somewhat spicy hot Mexican meal we went on to Westcliffe, to Hermit Basin Lodge. Some of the family had planned the first ever Unruh Cousins reunion. There ended up being about seventeen families represented from the 10 children born to Cornelius and Julia Unruh. One of those children was my grandma Minnie Wieler. All of the 10 children have passed on and several of their children have passed on also, but almost all of the surviving first cousins were able to make it, along with several of the next generations. Some traveling from Canada, Oklahoma, Arizona and Pennsylvania. Most of them I had already met, but there were a couple of them that were new acquaintances. We had a great time catching up and learning more about our family tree. We spent a lot of time looking at old pictures that some had brought and talking about years past.

This is all of the first cousins that were able to make it to the reunion. Back row: Paul Howerton, Hank Siemens, Louise Jassman, Bud Penner and Willis Ratzlaff. Front row: My dad, Judy Laubach, Marie Sept and Norma Adler.

This is a picture of the cousins born into the family not including the spouses. The additions to the top picture are Tex Wiebe, Doug Sept, Pam Blackburn, Vernon Wiebe, Me and Candace Adler.

We did some fun things too, including a day trip to Bishop's Castle, hiking and going into town and doing some shopping. We also had to make some special trips in to get ice cream cones. The weather was perfect. We could wear shorts in the mornings, but then in the evenings we would have to resort to jeans and jackets. We had such a good time.

This is Bishop's Castle. An interesting place to visit, it is built by hand by one man determined to do it all by himself. He has been working on it for 30 years and it is still a work in progress. He is on hand there working and visiting with all the people that stop to see the castle. You can go all the way to the very top of the highest point and most of our group did. You can't even see the top on this picture. I couldn't get the whole thing in.

Justin and I found this cool carving and log bench downtown Westcliffe, while we were on our shopping trip. We even stumbled onto a pioneer day parade.

This was the whole group that made the trek to Colorado for the Labor Day weekend. It was kind of tricky trying to get every one in the picture. The shirts were really cool. The front was a tree with all the names starting with my great grandparents Cornelius and Julia Unruh and all their children. On the back, since we are of German decent, was a long list of German words. I had no clue what most of them were.

We were told what they all said. I should have written them down, because I will never remember what they are.