Deck the Halls!

Emma, Ella and I finally found time to put up the Christmas tree and decorate it. I love making memories with my granddaughters!

Ella needed a little boost.

This is the best part of Christmas!!

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.

Orange Beach, Alabama

This past week we were on vacation with Justin's brother and sisters families. We had a fantastic time! We spent a lot of time just swimming in the ocean, laying on the beach and doing sand sculptures. Our niece, Kenzie, got stung by a jellyfish on the inside of her leg the very first time in the water. On Tuesday they made us get out of the water because there were some sharks that decided they liked our beach. We stood on the shore and watched them swim by. Justin estimated that they were probably six or seven feet long. They would surface and show us there dorsal fins. That was very interesting. Some of the kids decided after that they were finished getting into the water at that point.

Justin and his brother Scott taking a snooze under the umbrella!

The Enclave was the condo we stayed at in Orange Beach. We also got to go deep sea fishing which was so much fun. This is the boat we went on "The Distraction."

Me catching my Bonita. It wasn't as big as I thought it was, but it fought like crazy. They made fun of me, because I guess I put on quite a show trying to get it reeled in.

These are some of the King Mackerel we caught. We couldn't keep the Bonita, because they are more like bait fish and not good to eat, but they sure were fun to catch.
Here is the Mermaid sand sculpture that Kenzie, Madison and I sculpted. It was getting dark, so it is a little hard to see. I have to say that if we had had the contest that Mike wanted to do, we would have won! Ha Ha!

Thursday night we took family pictures out on the beach. We each took individual families and then a group. This is the whole group that went. I was a bit sad that none of my kids could go. It isn't complete without them. We had a great time and we are planning to go back again.

Front row: Me, Kenzie, Debie, Kim, Kylee and Megan, back row: Scott, Madison, Taylor, Justin and Mike.

Swimming Lessons

Emma and Ella are taking swimming lessons this week. Sara had appointments this morning so I got to take the girls. They love the water and are having so much fun with the girls that are teaching them.

Hunter went with us and he is not to fond of the water. I did persuade him to get his feet in the water, but I should have known with his leg problem he would fall and he did. He got his clothes all wet and I had to strip him down. He was definitely ready to go bye-bye after that and he let me know it too! He didn't cry, but he was adamant about leaving.

At the end of lessons the girls got to go down the big red slide. Emma loved it, but Ella was not very excited. It took a lot of coaxing and determination, but she did it and loved it!

HUNGRY, HUNGRY HIPPOS!

I wanted to find some things that I could do with the girls this summer when they came to stay with me. I remembered that my boys had a Hungry, Hungry Hippos game when they were little and they loved to play it. Last time I went to Wal-Mart I looked to see if they even sold it anymore and they do! I bought one and the girls love it too. We have spent a lot of time playing lately. I finally have to tell them that's enough and put it up or they would play all day. It is so noisy, it just about drive anyone not playing crazy! Fun times with the grandkids! We're making memories.

And the Verdict Is............

I had a fun afternoon at the lake with a few friends. Debbie had just got a different boat and invited Melvena, Linda and I to go out for some fun. I was determined that I was going to ski since I haven't done it in probably 15 years. Not only did I intend to ski, but I was only going to slalom. That is all I ever did before. To my disappointment I was unable to get up. The very first try, the rope pulled the muscles in my forearms and I was instantly in pain. I tried a couple more times, but it was too late. I had already messed myself up to bad. I hate the realization that I am not able to do some of the things I was able to do when I was younger. In fact it makes me down right mad! This is Debbie and Linda getting us ready to go out.

After I tried to ski, I was exhausted so we went out in the middle, grabbed a life jacket and jumped out in the water and just chilled out for a while.

My arms were still hurting, but I decided I wasn't going to let it ruin the rest of the day. We threw out the tube and Linda and I got on. It's a good thing we put on our chapstick before we got started, because we kissed the water pretty good a couple of times. Arms and legs went flying!


We tried riding that tube lying down and on our knees and sitting up. Then we tried each of us doing different things at the same time.

We had a lot of fun, got some good sun and wore ourselves out. That was Thursday when we went. Today, two days later, I am so sore I can barely move, but it was worth it!

Learning New Technology

They say you should never stop learning, so I have been trying to get out of my box and try new things. Some of my friends and family have been texting me, so it forced me to learn how to text back. It was taking me forever and a day to reply back on my razor phone 1): because if I don't have my bifocals on I can't see what buttons I am pushing and 2): I have to really concentrate on where the letters are and how many times I need to push the same place. So I decided a while back to invest in a slider phone in order to be more efficient at replying back sooner than the 15 minutes it was taking me. My boys have harassed me unmercifully about having a teeny-bopper phone, to which my reply was "Hey, whatever it takes!"

Last week my friend Debbie came over and was talking to me about her face book. She said you should give it a try. I never was interested in it, because I new my kids had face book pages and I didn't want to intrude on their territory. I didn't know how any of it worked and didn't know they had to accept me as a friend before I could even view their page. However, after she left I decided I would look at it and decide whether it was something I could keep up with or not. Well I started Friday night at 9:00 and didn't get off until 11:30. Now, anyone that knows me very well at all knows that that is way past my bed time, but I was enjoying looking at the pages of everyone that had accepted me as their friend. When I finally did go to bed, I couldn't go to sleep for a long time. I just couldn't get my mind shut down.

Last night I was on it until 10:30 and again, I couldn't shut my mind down for a while after going to bed. I guess I am going to have to stay off of it just before going to bed! I know, I am weird. Justin and Tyler have razzed me to no end about being a texting and face book junky. It is really cool to be able to connect with people you haven't talked to in forever. So far, I haven't been able to find many people I went to school with on fb. Maybe THEY are technologically challenged! Or maybe they just have better things to do with their time than I do.

For now I'm just trying to stay up with the times.

Honestly!!

I have officially been convicted!! Today I was reading the Proverbs 31 devotional I get every day and what Lysa wrote hit me right between the eyes. It was all about temptation and the struggle with weight issues. I have been so guilty about making excuses for not losing the 20 pounds I need to lose. Satan has planted all kinds of lies in my head like: "You can't lose because you had chemo and radiation, so your metabolism is all messed up, plus the fact you have hypothyroidism. You better just get used to the way you are and be content with it." Although there could be a little bit of truth to that, the reality is (confession time) I recently read the book by the Biggest Loser's Jillian Michaels "Master Your Metabolism" and she said we should be eating organic as much as possible. So I made a trip to Oklahoma City to the Health Food Center and bought a fridge full of organic fruits and vegetables, which was very expensive. The very next day I was hungry so instead of taking the time to fix a salad with the veggies I had bought the day before, I went to Taco Mayo and got a chili-cheese burrito and a taco. I did forego the large coke I really did want and opted for a tea instead. What a sacrifice I made! This mind game I am playing has got to stop.

Here is the devotional written by Lysa TerKeurst:
"Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress." I Timothy 4:15 (NIV)

I think we all get to a place sometimes in our life where we have to honestly assess, "How I am doing?"

It's not really a conversation I have with a friend or family member. It's one of those middle of the night contemplations where there's no one to fool. There's no glossing over the realities staring me in the face.

I know certain things about myself need to change but it's easier to make excuses than tackle them head on. Rationalizations are so appealing:

I'm good in every other area.
I make so many sacrifices already.
I need this comfort in this season of life- I'll deal with it later.
I just can't give this up. The Bible doesn't specifically say this is wrong.
It's not really a problem, if I really wanted to make a change, I could - I just don't want to right now.
Oh for heaven's sake, everyone has issues, so what if this is mine?

And on and on.

But excuses always get me no where fast. This is especially true for me in the area of healthy eating. Even if that's not your issue, I suspect this same script of rationalization has played out in your mind over other things.

So, the cycle continues day after day, week after week, year after year.

A whole lifetime could be spent making excuses, giving in, feeling guilty, resolving to do better, mentally beating myself up for not sticking to my resolve, feeling like a failure, and then resigning that things can't change.

And I don't want to spend a lifetime in this cycle.

Nothing will change until I make the choice to change . I have to want it, spiritually, physically and mentally. The battle really is in all three areas.

Spiritually: In Colossians 3 1-5 we are told to set our minds and our hearts on things above. In order to do this, we have to put to death whatever belongs to our earthly nature which sets itself up as an idol in my life.

Idolatry is trying to get my needs met outside the will of God.

Bingo. Can't deny it. This described food for me at times. Again, it wasn't a huge problem where I was medically in danger. But, any idolatry, no matter how small is a problem.

Physically: According to an extensive study done by Northwestern University, calorie restriction is the key ingredient for managing weight issues. (The link to see this study can be found on Lysa's blog today.) Of course, they state that exe rcise is also important but good nutrition is crucial.

Bingo. Can't deny it. It does matter what I eat. My weight is a reflection of what I consume.

Mentally: Don't settle. Don't compromise. What happens when you cut the "com" off of the word compromise? You're left with a "promise."

We were made for more than compromise. We were made for God's promises in all areas of our life.

Honestly. I am made for more than a vicious cycle of eating, gaining, stressing - eating, gaining, stressing...

I am made to rise up, do battle with my issues, and using the Lord's strength in me, defeat them - spiritually, physically, and mentally - to the glory of God.

Dear Lord, help me be courageous enough to speak honestly to You and to myself in those areas I'm giving in to compromise. Show me how to rely on Your strength for more self-discipline in my life - not for my glory but for Yours. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Memorial Day Fish Fry

For Memorial Day we invited all of Justin's family over for a fish fry. We had a really good day with lot's of really good food. I had made four freezers of ice cream on Sunday so I could please everyone's tastes. I made two Butterfinger, one peach and one vanilla and there is very little of any of them left. My nephew Taylor only likes vanilla and the poor guy always gets left out, because no one ever makes just plain vanilla, so I decided it was his turn.

Everyone in the whole family was able to come, except for Daniel, who had to work this weekend and our brother-in-law Mike. His mother has been battling cancer for almost 10 years now and is coming to the end of that long fight. He was planning on coming until this morning when he got the call that she had a really bad night last night and was in a lot of pain. They decided they would do a CT scan this morning and when he got to the hospital, decided he had better stay there with his Dad and Sister. They had to go back to Tulsa this evening, because the girls still have four more days of school. I'm sure it will be hard to leave since they don't seem to know what the next hours or days will hold for his mother.

We spent a lot of time visiting around the table. We always find things to laugh about. In the afternoon, the guys went out to the shooting range and shot their guns. They had to quit, because it started raining. I think they were hoping to stay out there a while longer, but they had a good time while it lasted.

It's a Girl's Day Out

Saturday Mom, Lisa and I had a girl's day out. We went to Oklahoma City for the day. It started out at the Cemetery putting flowers on my grandparents graves. It was the first time I had been there since my grandma passed away a year ago in February. My Aunt and Uncle was waiting for us when we got there for a short little visit. We put flowers on their graves and then went over a ways to see my great grandparents and other aunts and uncles graves.

From there we went to Bricktown and ate at Crabtown. I love to eat there. We all three shared a bowl of Red beans and rice and then treated ourselves to a shrimp boil. It doesn't get much better than that. My Mom treated Lisa and I to the Broadway production of "The Lion King". I was so excited to get to go to a Broadway play. I have never been and it's something I have always wanted to do. A few minutes after we got into the building, we spotted James, Linda, Emily and Kevin Suderman. We talked to them for a few minutes and then started comparing our tickets to see where our seats were. We noticed that we were in the same section. Wow! what are the chances of that? Upon further examination we saw that our seats were in the same row. Really? Not only that our seat numbers were all consecutive. We were so surprised! Especially since they bought their tickets in December and we bought ours the end of January. We had a wonderful time and loved the show.

After a quick trip to Sam's and then to Braum's (of course) we went on home and ended up driving through a toad strangling rain starting at Cherokee Trading Post and it didn't end until we got to Watonga. It was raining so hard and there was so much water on the road that there were two people that had hydroplaned and had accidents just after the Cherokee. It was a little scary. Anyway we made it home just fine. Thank you Mom for the wonderful treat. It was a lot of fun.

Snuggling and T-Ball

We had a fun time with Emma and Ella Wednesday night. Austin had a meeting at church and Sara had a night out with the girls, so we got to spend time with our girls. Emma has started T-ball and she had practice that night so Justin and I got to take her. It brought back so many memories of summer after summer at the baseball field every night of the week it seemed like. With three boys, all on different teams we were meeting ourselves coming and going for the first part of each summer. Anyway I got some pictures of Emma doing the same thing I remember my boys doing when they first started in T-ball. It was so funny to watch!

Before we left to go to the ball field we took turns snuggling. You have to catch them when they are in the mood anymore and take advantage of it when you can. They are starting to get fewer and farther between. I dread the day my granddaughters won't want to do this anymore. It won't be very cool pretty soon. Emma will start kindergarten next year and it seems like they grow up faster after they start school.
This last picture is of a very big girl that can do it by herself (or so she says). Who needs baby wipes when you can just dip in. Luckily she hadn't done anything yet when I caught her sinking down into the toilet. We have an insert to put on top of the seat to fit her little bottom, but she said she didn't need it. (I a big girl!)

She is so funny! Having grand kids is a blast. I am so blessed to be able to spend so much time with them. I absolutely adore them.