We had a great visit with LuAnn and David when they came up for Christmas. Here are some of the things we did during their time spent here;
-Open gifts the evening they arrived
-Played Christmas bingo, pictionary, and "I have never" games
-Went horse riding with LuAnn (who rode Dixie and Blaze) on a very snowy trail
-Went to see the movie "Bolt" at the theater
-Talked about dirtbiking with the Baurers
-Boys slumber party in the basement for 3 days
-fun snacks including Kitchen Cooked potatoe chips from Illinois
Thank you, LuAnn and David, for sharing your Christmas days with us. Even though the weather outside was frightful (or just really rainy) the atmosphere inside was delightful!
Monday, December 29, 2008
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Santa Clause Parade
Here is a photo of Leah and Sydney (a friend) riding in the Santa Clause Parade on Sat. It was bright, sunny day, but REALLY cold! The girls are dressed up as Wise (wo)men and even had the horses wearing costumes. It was a lot of fun, but those toe warmers came in handy! (Julia was unable to ride due to a bad cold)
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Christmas School Concert
Here are some pictures of Julia and Leah singing in the school concert. They did a musical about Mr. Scrooge. It was cute, but will be Leah's last Linwood school concert.
This. . .
. . .is what the front end of the pick-up truck that hit the neighbor's tree looked like after it stopped. I had been making a left hand turn into my driveway while pulling the horse trailer (after the Santa Clause parade), when this pickup passed me on the left. He narrowly missed me by driving into the ditch and hitting the next door neighbor's tree instead. I was TOTALLY unaware anyone was passing me when I turned. (I had looked twice before pulling out, and it was clear both ways). I DID have my signal on and the driver of the truck said he thought I had just forgot to turn it off, so that was why he decided to pass me. I had pulled out of Grandma's front parking lot, onto the road, and was turning around in our driveway. I had signalled properly the whole time. There were no charges laid, no one got hurt (PRAISE THE LORD!!!!!) and only one vehicle was damaged. I am sorry it was his, but I do believe he was speeding and drivingtoo fast for the slippery roads.
Because he came INCHES from hitting me on my side (the driver's side), I keep thanking God for causing me to hesitate just moments before I turned into the driveway. I have NO doubt it was His protection that preserved me because I am sure it would have been a LIFE CHANGING experience had he hit me. It took him hitting a tree after travelling about 100 yards, in deep snow drifts, in the ditch, to finally get stopped. Again, thankfully he wasn't hurt either.
THANK YOU, LORD!
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Updates
Some update on recent happenings at home.
A couple of weeks ago, we had so much heavy snow that our outdoor horse shelter partially collapsed. Two of the supporting posts broke. Thankfully, Jim's dad, Earle, came up with the tractor to lift the fallen roof up until we could find someone to fix it. I didn't want to leave it too long or the whole thing would have come down. We did find some local Mennonite men to fix it the same day, so now it is better than new!
I guess I am going to be coaching the girls' basketball team in Jan.-Feb. I got a note from the school saying they weren't going to have a team unless someone volunteered to coach. Leah really wanted to play so I said I would help. Hopefully, they will guide me thru this a bit. I am pretty rusty on all the rules! I would prefer to just be the assistant coach, but I might not have that option.
Julia and Leah are looking forward to riding their horses in the Santa Clause parade this Sat. I am hoping for a warm, sunny day. If not warm, at least sunny???!! We have a friend who will be riding with them and they are dressing up as the 3 wise men.
The post office has been very busy these past few weeks. I am learning lots and it really helps to work every day when it comes to learning all the post office boxes. They have around 600 boxes to learn. Not to mention all there is to know about the retail end of it. This job is cleaning out the cobwebs in my brain!!
This weekend we were busy partying. We had St. Jacobs post office party on Sat. evening and St. Clements post office party on Sun. evening. We enjoyed seeing everyone and I enjoyed not having to cook for 2 nights.
Looking forward to the kids' Christmas program at school on Wed. evening. They are doing a play about Scrooge. Julia and Leah are the only ones in it this year. Daniel doesn't like doing them. He is a great singer and would do well on the stage, but has NO interest. Maybe if it was a play about dirtbiking??? This week is their last week of school until after the new year. I am looking forward to the slower pace and more help at home for cleaning for company! :)
A couple of weeks ago, we had so much heavy snow that our outdoor horse shelter partially collapsed. Two of the supporting posts broke. Thankfully, Jim's dad, Earle, came up with the tractor to lift the fallen roof up until we could find someone to fix it. I didn't want to leave it too long or the whole thing would have come down. We did find some local Mennonite men to fix it the same day, so now it is better than new!
I guess I am going to be coaching the girls' basketball team in Jan.-Feb. I got a note from the school saying they weren't going to have a team unless someone volunteered to coach. Leah really wanted to play so I said I would help. Hopefully, they will guide me thru this a bit. I am pretty rusty on all the rules! I would prefer to just be the assistant coach, but I might not have that option.
Julia and Leah are looking forward to riding their horses in the Santa Clause parade this Sat. I am hoping for a warm, sunny day. If not warm, at least sunny???!! We have a friend who will be riding with them and they are dressing up as the 3 wise men.
The post office has been very busy these past few weeks. I am learning lots and it really helps to work every day when it comes to learning all the post office boxes. They have around 600 boxes to learn. Not to mention all there is to know about the retail end of it. This job is cleaning out the cobwebs in my brain!!
This weekend we were busy partying. We had St. Jacobs post office party on Sat. evening and St. Clements post office party on Sun. evening. We enjoyed seeing everyone and I enjoyed not having to cook for 2 nights.
Looking forward to the kids' Christmas program at school on Wed. evening. They are doing a play about Scrooge. Julia and Leah are the only ones in it this year. Daniel doesn't like doing them. He is a great singer and would do well on the stage, but has NO interest. Maybe if it was a play about dirtbiking??? This week is their last week of school until after the new year. I am looking forward to the slower pace and more help at home for cleaning for company! :)
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Family Updates
Just a few updates on the Baxters since the last post:
Jim has been extremely busy at work with winter coming extra early. He has been getting up at 4:30am to leave at 5:30 and works until about 5pm. He is usually to bed early (much to my kids' annoyance because it means they have to go to bed early too!) There are also two guys off at work, so it means extra work for everyone.
Andrew just bought himself a new laptop computer from all that dough he made flipping burgers! He is busy playing with that when he is not working. I am hoping this will free up the computer more for others to use AND he will get more homework done:)
Hannah is working hard at school and social studies (I mean SOCIAL studies!) She is always trying to stay connected with her friends whether it is through MSN, Facebook, or the phone. The phone line is always tied up when the kids are home from school now. High school has opened up a whole new batch of friends for her and it is exciting to see her grow up. Fashion is still her thing, so if you are wondering what to buy her for Christmas; a gift card to the mall works great!
Leah is working on beating my high school record at trying to be involved in every club, sport, or activity going on. She is a hard worker, but there are only so many hours in a day to do it all. And her chauffeurs don't want to be on the road every night of the week for her activities. She is finished with volleyball and looking forward to basketball. Not to mention Christmas play, pony club, dog and horse chores, homework, etc. that she is still working on.
Daniel is having a great time with his new camera (we will post some pictures soon). He likes to take it sledding (I know, it scares me too!) and video tape his friends going over the jumps on their sleds. He also really enjoys Odie and likes it when they are allowed in the house (that would be when Dad is not home or when it is too cold outside.)
Julia is hanging in there and this year she is helping Leah every evening with the horse chores. She is also trying to squeeze some sledding in after school when the older ones agree to go with her. She likes playing out in the snow and building snow horses (sound familiar???)
I am busy working every day at the post office and this looks like a long-term temporary position. I am finished with my job at the youth center as of tomorrow. I did take the time recently to build an insulated dog house for the dogs out in the shed so they would have a little more warmth in the winter. They already have a heat lamp and a heated bed, so I am hoping they will be nice and toasty in their new house.
Jim has been extremely busy at work with winter coming extra early. He has been getting up at 4:30am to leave at 5:30 and works until about 5pm. He is usually to bed early (much to my kids' annoyance because it means they have to go to bed early too!) There are also two guys off at work, so it means extra work for everyone.
Andrew just bought himself a new laptop computer from all that dough he made flipping burgers! He is busy playing with that when he is not working. I am hoping this will free up the computer more for others to use AND he will get more homework done:)
Hannah is working hard at school and social studies (I mean SOCIAL studies!) She is always trying to stay connected with her friends whether it is through MSN, Facebook, or the phone. The phone line is always tied up when the kids are home from school now. High school has opened up a whole new batch of friends for her and it is exciting to see her grow up. Fashion is still her thing, so if you are wondering what to buy her for Christmas; a gift card to the mall works great!
Leah is working on beating my high school record at trying to be involved in every club, sport, or activity going on. She is a hard worker, but there are only so many hours in a day to do it all. And her chauffeurs don't want to be on the road every night of the week for her activities. She is finished with volleyball and looking forward to basketball. Not to mention Christmas play, pony club, dog and horse chores, homework, etc. that she is still working on.
Daniel is having a great time with his new camera (we will post some pictures soon). He likes to take it sledding (I know, it scares me too!) and video tape his friends going over the jumps on their sleds. He also really enjoys Odie and likes it when they are allowed in the house (that would be when Dad is not home or when it is too cold outside.)
Julia is hanging in there and this year she is helping Leah every evening with the horse chores. She is also trying to squeeze some sledding in after school when the older ones agree to go with her. She likes playing out in the snow and building snow horses (sound familiar???)
I am busy working every day at the post office and this looks like a long-term temporary position. I am finished with my job at the youth center as of tomorrow. I did take the time recently to build an insulated dog house for the dogs out in the shed so they would have a little more warmth in the winter. They already have a heat lamp and a heated bed, so I am hoping they will be nice and toasty in their new house.
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