Tues., 10/27/2020, Did spelling and reading with the kids, Vikki came over, Kimmy, Jared and the boys came over and got all of our outside stuff put away PTL

Breakfast time at Nana and Papa's

Peyton and Isaac zooming with their teacher and class

Isaac and Peyton online with their teacher and class

Isaac and Peyton..she's catching the bologna coming out of the grinder that she wants to eat

Isaac catching some ground bologna.  I scraped it off when he had what he wanted. 

First fire of the year!

A hunting we will go.  Bill is hungry for turkey! He's going out to our woods to try to get one            

Took this of Bill, but I thought it was kind of cool how it looks like lights are hanging from the pergola.  I didn't notice the dining room light was reflecting in the picture while I took it

Bill going on a turkey hunt!

Evan, Jack and Max opening the huge Kit Kat

Evan, Jack and Max opening their big Kit Kat

Adam sent me this picture in a text message.  So cute

Bill getting leaves off the cover

Jared, Jacob, Eli, Isaac and Adam

Jacob hung my bike up for the winter for me

                                                                                  

 took this of Jacob and Adam putting our swing seats up on the shelf for us.  A little blurry, but I loved the picture

I

Adam, Jacob and Bill....The boys were such a great help and so joyful about it.  Bill told them where to put stuff

Bill taking Kimmy's place and trying to beat Adam at chess.  They are playing on the magnetic chess set I got Bill the year we were married

Jared, Eli, Adam, and Jacob with their treats we brought back from our trip

Who are these masked men???

Isaac and Eli swinging and having fun!

Eli drinking through the super long licorice

Eli, Jared and Adam opening the big Kit Kat

Great picture of Jared on his new lawn mower. Nice tractor for sure and an amazing person sitting on it!

Bill and I got up, and shortly after Peyton got up and asked who was making all the noise.  Of course I said Papa ha ha.  Isaac came down about 15 minutes later.  We ate breakfast.  Isaac ate a bowl of cheerios with Kimmy and Jared's honey on it and a bowl of oatmeal.  He's a growing boy!  We made ground bologna after that.  They thought it was fun getting a handful when it came out of the grinder.

We did our spelling.  They both missed the same amount on their spelling test. They wrote their words, and then new them after that. They got online with their teacher and class at 12:10.  She's such a nice teacher.    We did our reading after that.  They finished their book about the Shipwrecked Pirates.  They didn't want to stop reading it.  They are reading some big words really good now.  I started reading Little House on the Prairie to them, and they read the Picture Bible to me.  We played 3-13 and had some chicklate chops.  Our new name for chocolate chips because Peyton accidentally called them that.

Vikki came after work, and we ate ground bologna sandwiches.  Isaac wasn't hungry, so didn't eat with us.  Kimmy, Adam and Eli came and spent time with us while Jared took Jacob to the dentist to have a filling put back in the tooth he lost one out of.  They came here when done and they opened the surprise bag we brought back from our trip for them.  After that, we all went outside and put stuff away for the winter.  Jacob and Adam were amazing and were such a great help getting the heavy stuff so Bill didn't have to with his sore shoulder.  They are always so willing to help.  Kimmy, Jared, and Vikki helped us too.  Then they all helped to get the inflated ball in the center of the pool and got water all around it so it would stay put.  What a great help they all were.  Thank you all very much.  We love you so much!  Such a fun day!

Monday, 10/26/20, Watched Amy Coney Barrett be sworn in, Vikki brought the kids over, we went to get free wood

My Compassion child, Rahemet!

She is growing up so fast.  Last picture is from April 2019

Melissa sent me these pictures in a text saying,  eating super duper long licorice makes schoolwork more fun!  When I seen these pictures, I believe it.  They are so cute!

Jack

Max

Evan

Vikki and I unloaded and stacked this wood.  

Bill met Charlie for coffee.  He said he was doing good.  They have moved his surgery to Nov. 20 so he can get stronger after his chemo and radiation.  I did our 21 days of Breakthrough Prayer Devotion our church is doing together.  Read my Bible and prayed, then did some cleaning.  Went shopping at Jack's, Meijer and Aldi's.  Not many people out and everyone I saw was wearing a mask which was nice.  It took me a while to sanitize everything since I got quite a few groceries.  I made spaghetti for dinner.  Bill got a call from his brother, Fred, and he told him his half brother, Fred also, died two years ago.  He and his wife came to Melissa and Bruce's wedding.  Now the other half brother, Greg, is dying and his friend Tom, said he wants to talk to Bill.  Praying for this to go well and Greg to accept the Lord into his heart before anything happens.  Praying for his healing. Vikki and the kiddos came 15 minutes before Bill had to go to an Elder's meeting.  Vikki had seen lots of free wood on her way here, so we took the truck and got the wood and Bill took my car to the meeting.   The wood was pine and was really sappy.  The couple came out and asked if we needed help after we had the truck half loaded.  We told them no because it was so messy, but they both insisted on helping anyway.  We filled the truck right up and then headed to our house.  There was still lots of very large pieces of wood there.  Vikki parked the truck back by the shed and she threw the wood off the truck while I stacked.  She stacked the last of the wood while I went in and dished up Peyton and Isaac's spaghetti.  It took a while to wash the sap off my hands.  I also threw my coat in the washing machine.  It took two long washes with presoaks and warm water to get the sap off.  We watched two episodes of Full House with Peyton and Isaac.  I read the Bible with them and tucked them in.  They went to sleep really good again.  

Sunday, 10/25/20, Listened to church online, Vikki and the kids came over, Melissa, Bruce and the kids came over

 

Sure looks different than when I left a week ago The tree looked red back then.

Isaac face timing Rody so he can see Vikki take the surprises we brought back out of the bag.  Peyton holding the big Kit Kat (32 oz.)

Vikki painting Peyton's nails with my favorite polish

Peyton and Isaac eating their lollipops

Rody, Isaac, Peyton and Vikki (Vikki took this for me when she got home)

Hailey, Max, Jack, Bruce, Melissa and Jack with their treats we brought back

Max, Jack and Evan eating their lollipops

Hailey dropped her lollipop so I took a picture!  Bill in the background

Hailey came to visit too

Pumpkins I bought from Kelly to help her raise money for her two compassion girls

Got ready, then watched our church service.  Another awesome message from Pastor today.  We read our Bibles afterward.  Vikki called and she and the kiddos came over.  We were so happy to see them.  She brought my pumpkins that Kelly made and gave to Rody to give me.  They are beautiful!  We visited for a while, and then gave them their surprises we brought them.  Vikki face timed Rody so he could watch as she opened.  The kids started eating their lollipops right away.  We watched an episode of the Chosen with Vikki, then they left.  A short time later, Melissa, Bruce and the kids all came over.  Bruce checked out his trailer hitch, and we got to see their new Honda vehicle.  It is so nice. The boys had fun running and walking in the yard.  We gave them their surprises too.  The kids started eating their lollipops too.   After Hailey had been eating on hers for a while, she accidentally dropped it and it broke into pieces.  Bill had me take a picture.  Everyone loved the huge Kit Kat and Extra long licorice.  They also got a Ammonite rock in their surprise bag.  It was so good to visit with everyone.  Can't wait to deliver Kimmy and her family's to them.  Bill and I watched 3 more episodes of Chosen.

 

Sat.,10/24/20, Left our hotel in Illinois at 6:30 a.m., Got home at 6:10 p.m.

Went by the St. Louis Arch.  I was texting with Isaac at the time so I sent him a picture and told him to show his mom and also told him about us going up in it when she was a kid

I was so happy to see there was still lots of color in Michigan.  We saw color on our trip, but there's no color like in Michigan

Took this after getting in to Michigan                                                                                   

One branch down plus lots of little ones when we got home

My mum is opening and is beautiful.  

Kind of weird how both of our maple trees are turning color in stages this year.  This one is starting at the top instead of all over like usual.

We got ready, grabbed coffees, and then headed for home at 6 a.m.  We split my chicken breast from the Cracker Barrel that I couldn't eat last night.  We also had a granola bar.  That was our breakfast on the road.  I texted with Isaac, Peyton and Evan for a while.  It was so sweet when I got a text from Isaac that said I love you Nana.  Such a sweetie!  It made my heart so happy!  Bill drove until 10:30, then we filled up with gas and I drove from there.  Our total gas for the trip was $118.63 and we still have some in the tank.  We drove and only stopped at around 3 to get something to eat.  Ate at a Bob Evan's and had their pot pie.  It was great, but was so hot, I had to wait for it to cool some before I could eat it.  Ate half and took half home.  Bill had a big breakfast.  I drove from there and we came the rest of the way home.  We were happy to get home sweet home.  I did a couple of loads of laundry while we both unpacked.  

10/23/20, Started heading home

Bill on a scenic stop on The Piggy Trail Scenic Bypass

One of the many hairpin curves

View along the Piggy Trail

Granny’s Restaurant 

Entering Missouri 

World’s largest gift shop 

Bill looks pretty small in comparison to the gift shop

Bill shopping In the gift shop

Bill in Branson.  That is a mural on the side of the building, but at first it looked real to me

Bill in Branson 

Me in Branson 

Bill ivy the Marine Corp Emblem in Branson

Face timing together...Adam and Jacob aren't shown

Jacob has a mouse head thanks to his very talented Uncle Rody

We left at 8 a.m. When we were on Highway 23 in Arkansas close to Missouri, we were on some very steep and curvy roads that were pretty thrilling!  Lots of low clouds on the mountain tops and some pretty colors.  The road runs through the Ozark Forest and is nicknamed Pig Trail Scenic Byway because of its steep hills and hairpin turns.  We got into some heavy fog.  I started praying!  Thankfully it only lasted a couple of miles!!! Thanked Jesus immediately!  Stopped at Granny’s Restaurant for lunch.  It was in the middle of nowhere but had great food.  We stopped in Branson, Missouri and walked through some shops.  It was in the low 40’s so we had to put our jackets on.  Didn’t see many people, but those we saw were wearing their face masks outside.  We walked through a couple small shops and ended up getting some good deals at a really nice Christian Store.  Where we were the shops were on a big hill.  We walked down one side and up the other.  It was steep so we got some steps plus exercise.  Kimmy called (yay) and we talked to her for a while when we saw signs along the highway advertising the world’s largest candy store and largest gift shop 9 miles ahead.  We told her we had 9 miles to talk ha ha.  We stopped and the gift shop was huge and fun to walk through. The candy store was pretty amazing too.  We only bought at the candy store so are coming home much sweeter.  I drove the next few hours. We stayed at the Baymont in Sullivan Missouri.  We watched CMA’s nightly service on live stream. Got a great surprise after that! Got to face time all together with Vikki, Rody, Peyton, Isaac, Kimmy, Jared, Jacob, Adam, and Eli!This sure made us happy How fun to see everyone and talk together!  Rody put some pretty cute animal faces on him lol. Melissa didn’t answer to get on with us, but Vikki and I did a three way call with her afterward!  Rody said we can have up to 32 people face timing together!