Fri., 11/19/21, Happy 81st Birthday to Charlie, Baked pies, made rolls, got things ready for tomorrow, went to Holidays in the Heart of the City, Best Part....Got to hug Melissa, Hailey and the boys for the first time since Covid started...Tears of Joy

Bill, me, Evan, Bruce, Jack and Hailey

Jack, Melissa, me, Hailey, Evan, Bill and Bruce waiting for the lighting of the Christmas lights

Melissa, Evan, Bill, Bruce, Hailey and Jack

Bill and Melissa

Melissa and me

Melissa

Jack, Hailey, Evan, Bruce and Melissa

Melissa

Bill, Jack, Bruce, Evan and Hailey...Love Evan's expression at the lights being lit

Bill, me, Evan, Jack, Bruce and Hailey

All the lights lit at the Waterworks.  I used to come see the lights at the Waterworks when I was a little kid

Bill had therapy at the VA.  He also dropped lots of stuff I had gathered for the thrift store.

I made a banana cream pie, a chocolate banana pie, and a pumpkin pie.  I also made two batches of rolls.  I talked to Kimmy and she was making a yummy apple pie and two batches of rolls for tomorrow too.  I tried to tell her I would make the other two batches of rolls, but she was persistent in wanting to make them.  Adam was feeling better today, so we were happy about that.  I stopped at Melissa's and dropped the drops off for the Covid testing, then got celery from Aldi, and got gas at Sam's Club.  I called Charlie and sang Happy Birthday to him.  He's 81 today!  When I got home, I did my reading and praying.  Bill did too.  He got new wipers for my car, which I sure appreciate.  He got the tables in that we will need tomorrow.  I wiped them down, then put Thanksgiving tablecloths on them.  Melissa called and wanted us to go to Holidays in the Heart of the City.  I talked to Vikki after I talked to Melissa and told her we were going if they wanted to go too.  We picked Hailey up, then we met Bruce and Melissa by the zoo.  We each got specialty coffee's/younger kids got hot chocolate from Traveling Tom's Coffee Truck, then walked to the Waterworks to watch them light the Christmas lights.  It was pretty nice out...39 degrees and no wind.  We had fun while we drank our coffee/hot chocolate and waited for the lighting.  After that, we walked down the sidewalk and watched the horse and wagons go buy.  They were giving free rides.  Lines were long, so we didn't get in the crowds.  We went to the Montague Inn afterward to see if they were having the live nativity.  They had the sign up the Nouvel was doing it, but no one was there when we were.  They were playing beautiful music though.  We walked through the zoo and looked at all the Christmas lights and what animals we could see.  The best and most wonderful part was that when we walked to our car, we put on our facemarks and we got to hug each other for the first time since Covid started.  Jack gave me a super long wonderful hug, Evan gave me a great hug, Hailey gave me a great hug once I made her take her hands out of her pocket and told her I wasn't moving til I got a good one (she's not a hugger, but has gotten better since Covid) and then Melissa hugged me and we didn't want to let go....she came back for another one too.  Of course, we were in tears at getting to hug after so long of not being able too.  When Jack was walking to their vehicle, he told Melissa that hugging was the best part of the night.  Melissa and I texted lots when we got home and we both agreed with Jack.  I will never forget how special tonight was.  Thank You Lord!!!  I peeled potatoes, got the ham cut up and in the crockpot for tomorrow, and cheesy potatoes are made and ready to bake tomorrow.

Thurs, 11/18/21, Mopped floors, cleaned upstairs, got wireless sensor for kernel burner, went to Kimmy's

 

Hailey - she was on the porch when I got to Melissa's

Adam, Eli and Jacob...had to take the picture through the window because I couldn't go in

Our wireless sensor in the top left corner.  Just realized the light switch cover doesn't match.  Guess we had better switch it for a white one.

I woke up at 4 and couldn't get back to sleep, so I prayed while lying there for a while, then got up to read my Bible.  I did some reading up on a wireless sensor for the kernel burner.  It looked easy to hook up and it's nice because you can hang it 30 ft. or closer to the kernel burner and it registers the temperature of the room on the kernel burner screen.  We didn't use very many pellets today, because it would sense the temperature and when it was as warm in the room as what the temperature was set for, it would automatically turn off, then come back on when it was cooler than the set temperature.  We should have gotten one of these when we got the kernel burner.  It's amazing!  

I moved everything and mopped the foyer, kitchen, hallway, bathroom and utility room.  Sure feels good to have that done.  I cleaned the upstairs and got it all vacuumed too.  Cooked up a squash too.  Two more to cook up and it will all be done.  Bill blew more leaves out to the garden.  It was in the 30's and windy.  I couldn't help him this time, because I was cooking up burger and getting dinner ready.  Kept 2 cups of burger out for the stuffing on Sat.  Put it in the freezer til then.  

Vikki took Peyton and Isaac to get their Covid shots, Melissa and Bruce were taking Evan at the same time to the drive through one and they were about 10 cars behind Vikki and the kids.  They had a 2 hr and 5 min. wait, but they got their vaccines.  I went to Melissa's afterward and picked up a home Covid testing kit from her to take to Kimmy's so Adam could be tested.  He's had a sore throat and headache for a while now.   Praying he is back to normal tomorrow.  It started snowing pretty heavily when I got to Midland.  Nothing stuck to the ground though.  I left the Covid test on the porch, then Kimmy came out and got it after I walked back to my car.  I don't want to catch anything so waved and said hi to the boys through the window.  Kimmy and I talked on the phone while they did the test. Kimmy and Jared went to do the test, and Bruce forgot to put a swab in to do the test.  Kimmy looked in a first aid kit they had and there was a sterile one in it.  We were pretty thankful for that.  Bruce felt really bad that he forgot to put one in, but he figured Jared works in a lab and would know what to do.  Praising God that Adam tested negative. 

I ate spaghetti when I got home.  Worked on my blog and did some knitting. 

Wed., 11/17/21, got groceries for Thanksgiving celebration, raked up leaves, went to Costco, Went to Bible class

 Before

After

I got up early, read my Bible, then went to Kroger and Aldi for groceries for our upcoming Thanksgiving celebration.   When I got home, Bill came inside after me, and I asked him where he had been.  He said he had been blowing the leaves into piles, but he was done, because that's all he could do.  I put groceries away that needed to be in the refrigerator/freezer, then left the rest and went out and started raking the leaves on to a tarp and putting them into garbage cans.  It was raining lightly, but was a nice temperature out.  In about 15 minutes, Bill was back out and hauled the full cans to the front of the house, then helped me rake the leaves on the big tarp and haul what wouldn't fit into cans to the garden.  I should have taken a picture of the pile.  There are still more leaves to fall, but it is nice to keep up with them as it makes the job easier.  We came inside, ate lunch, then both took a short nap.  We went to Costco and walked around.  Bought a couple of items.  They had the Shea shampoo and conditioner I like in the big bottles and they were each $6 cheaper than I normally pay there.  Love sales like that.  We had fun walking around looking at everything.  Went to my class at 6:30.  It's such a good class.  Talked to Kimmy and Melissa for a long time.  Texted with Adam.  Sure hope he feels better soon.  Praying for my sweet grandson. 

Tues., 11/16/21, Made applesauce, Kernel Burner guy came, Bill had therapy, Intercessory prayer

This is such a great picture of Eli and his horse I had to borrow it from Kimmy 

Peeling and slicing apples the easy way

Only took one picture today.  I borrowed a good one from Kimmy though.  Bill took the garbage out and then went to an 8:00 appt. at the VA for therapy.  I texted with Adam.  I went to pick up diapers at the the store early.  I turned the kernel burner off before I left, so it would be cool enough to clean before the guy came to fix the temperature sensor.  When he came in the spring to do the yearly cleaning, he forgot to connect it when he was done.  I stopped at McDonalds and got an Egg McMuffin, a large ice tea and a free Mocha Frappe.  When I got back home, I peeled and sliced apples using the Kitchen Aid attachment.  It sure makes it easy.  I talked to Kimmy while I finished the last apples.  Bill got home and got the furnace going so it wouldn't get cold in the house.  It was only 27 degrees outside.  I made applesauce and put it in the freezer.  YUM, I did sample some.  After that I scraped out the kernel burner and emptied the ash pan.  I washed the glass door too.  The guy came to hook up the sensor, and saw that something hadn't been cleaned in the spring, so he did that for us.  He said it would ignite faster now.  No charge on anything so that was really nice.  I made Little Caesars pizzas for dinner from the kit I got for the kids fundraiser.  They were really good.  I did have a little boo boo when I was talking to Vikki, while heading to the table to eat.  I dropped the large ice tea from McDonalds and the cover came off.  Nice ice tea puddle right by the table on my newly shampooed carpet.  I got the shampooer back out and was thankful to have it.  I called Vikki back after it was cleaned up.  She showed me Peyton's red flannel shirt the got.  We are supposed to wear flannel shirts to Debbie's Christmas Party this year.  Don't have to, but she would like us to.  After I ate, I went to intercessory prayer.  We had a diaper shower for Megan and Jay, a young couple that come to prayer.  They brought the baby with them for us all to enjoy.  He's so tiny and precious.  Phyllis called on the phone and we put her on speaker so she could give her testimony about God healing her.  We all rejoiced with her.  We worshipped, then had prayer time.  Texted with Hailey when I got home.  

Monday, 11/15/21...Happy Birthday to Godson Shane, Dropped off shoeboxes, Shampooed carpet, Coco Loco's with Hailey

Pretty view of sunshine out our window this morning

Dinner at Coco Loco with my Hailey girl.  We each ordered 1/2 order of beef and bean nachos and look at the size of it on our big plates.  We both took half home.

Hailey and Abby

 Evan, Bruce and Hailey doing Just Dance...Abby watching and looks like wondering what's the matter with them lol

 

Love how Bruce is such a great dad and is dancing right along with them

A friend of mine took this picture in Florida.  Thought it was so cool!

 I got up early so I could get my reading and worship done first thing.  I wished Shane a happy birthday.  Bill met Charlie, Andy, Andrea and Chuck for coffee, then had a VA therapy appt. after that.  I took the Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes and dropped them off at a little church five minutes away from our house.  They were so nice there.  

When I got back home, I got the family room and living room ready and shampooed the carpets.  While I was shampooing, I decided to look at my phone to see if there were any prayer requests on the church page.  I was elated when I saw my dear friend Phyllis had posted she had had her scan for cancer after her last chemo and there was NO evidence of cancer.  I called her right away and we rejoiced together, cried tears of joy, and gave God all the glory.  What a miracle.  Her cancer was diagnosed as terminal.  What an awesome God we have.  Thank you Jesus!   Melissa called to say Hailey had a good appointment at U of M.  The new neurologist Hailey saw, was really thorough and smart.  She thinks it's a muscle that needs strengthening with therapy.  She is having Hailey have an MRI and will see her in 6 months.  Hailey texted me when she got home, and I picked her up and took her to Coco Loco's. We were both so hungry for their nachos and had fun spending time together.  It's been a while since were able to get together with Hailey having Covid, and quarantining.  Sure do love this girl.  She will be coming Sat. for our Thanksgiving, so will get to spend more time together.  Adam had a sore throat, so couldn't go to school.  Hailey was happy to have him home to text with.  I am praying his throat is better tomorrow.  We texted this morning.  Talked with Vikki and texted with Kimmy.  Talked with Melissa again and she sent me pictures and a video of Hailey, Evan and Bruce doing Just Dance on the Wii.  So much fun for them.  Hailey texted negative for Covid for her appt. today.  

Sunday, 11/14/21, Went to church, Tried to catch a lost dog, Went to Vikki's

 

Peyton

Isaac

Isaac giving me a great big wonderful hug!

Snow was falling when we got up this morning

Cute goodie container I won at a spaghetti dinner to help Foster Children.  Look closely to see the name of the candy shop lol.

It was snowing out when we got up.  It was pretty and I always love the first snowfall.  Someone said we were supposed to get 2 inches, but nothing stuck on the ground yet by 9:30 p.m., so I guess they were wrong.  Yay! I didn't want 2 inches yet.  We need to have the leaves on that tree fall down so they can be picked up first.  Spent some time worshipping, reading my Bible, and praying, then went to church for intercessory prayer before service.  Bill went back with the Elders to pray over pastor.  Another good message and wonderful worship.  We ate, then took a short little nap. We forgot to give Jeff and Debbie squash from our garden at church, so they stopped on their way by our house to pick it up.  They couldn't stay because it was Jeff's birthday and they had to be with family, so Jeff just ran up to the porch to get it.  Our neighbor behind us texted Bill because he saw a dog on his porch on his camera.  He was up north, so Bill checked it out and the dog came into our driveway next.  It was a big black dog with a collar on.  We tried to call it and it ran down our road and crossed busy Tittabawassee Rd.  Cars had to stop for it to cross. We followed it and tried to call it again, but all it did was run again.  It ended up running into a field and ran so fast it was almost out of sight in the field in a few minutes.  We gave up then.  I dropped of the notes I took in church to Lisa.  Dropped off a couple of subs for them to eat too.  Her mom was doing a little better today.  I just left things on the porch and talked to Lisa from my phone.  Vikki called and wanted to know if we wanted to come over for homemade vegetable noodle soup.  Bill couldn't go because he had Rocco coming over because he has the same kind of truck he just got and wants help figuring some things out.  Charlie was bring homemade oatmeal cookies over too.  I went and had fun hanging out with Vikki, Rody and the kids.  The soup was delicious.  She sent some home to Bill too. Isaac gave me the best hug when I was leaving.  Peyton gave me a hug, but after Isaac's I told her she could do better lol.  Then she gave me a really big hug.  When I got home, I could smell something that smelled like candles, but not good candles.  I looked and saw that the fireplace glass had plastic all melted on it.  Bill said he had worked for an hour on cleaning all the wood pellets up that fell out of the hole of the melted bag.  He turned it off, so when I got home, it was cool enough, for me to start working on.  I got the glass cleaned up after using a lot of elbow grease on it.  Then we started it back up, before it got cold in here.  Bill had a bowl of Vikki's yummy soup.  Bill thanked her and told her it was very good, when I called her about taking screenshots on my computer.   I read some on my book for my Bible Study.  Knitted on dishcloths too.  Texted with Adam.  Praying for Hailey's appointment at U of M tomorrow.  They are trying to figure out why she is having back pain.  She had spina bifida when she was a baby and they did surgery.  They think maybe it's a muscle that needs therapy, but will do tests to find out for sure.  I appreciate any prayers for my sweet Hailey.  

Sat. 11/13/21, We put the rest of the outdoor things away for winter, Got Culvers for lunch, Bruce and Jack came over, watched a movie

Jack on the rip stick

Jack

Deck already for winter

After our coffee, oatmeal and Bible time, we decided to get the outside work done.  Melissa called and prayed with me for my friend, Lisa's mom who was in a bad car accident last night.  It was kind of cool out and windy, but nice enough that we put all the rest of the outside stuff we needed to away for winter, since we are supposed to get 2 inches of snow tomorrow.  We went to Best Buy and Bill got me a new screen protector for my phone,   then we went to Culver's for lunch and also concrete mixers.  I found our my friend's mom who was in the accident died.  I am so sad for Lisa and her family.  They just moved back to Tennessee a few months ago to be close to both of their moms.  I'm very thankful she was a believer in Jesus!  

Bruce and Jack stopped over and Bruce got some wood.  Jack cut down the cornstalks in our garden for us.  Glad to have them taken care of.  Thank you Jack!  I talked to another friend from church named, Lisa.  Her mom is in her 80's and lives with her.  She has Covid.  Her temperature is going down now, and her oxygen is ok, but she still isn't feeling well.  We prayed together for her.  Bill and I watched a movie and had popcorn in the evening.