Halloween is Coming

Gage says, "thank you, thank you very much"
Gage has been visiting a nursing home since he was six weeks old to do pet therapy. We always like to entertain the old folks at Halloween with a little party. This is his costume for this year. It is a variation of what he wore last year but most of the folks won't remember that anyway. He is a very good sport about all of this. LaDonna

Fall In Greensburg

Thanks for sharing the lovely picture Kathy of fall in Mo. Fall is such a beautiful time. Too bad winter comes after it. Here is a picture taken from my back door this morning. I had heard that the conditions have been just right for a beautiful fall here in Pa., I think perhaps they were right. LaDonna

Morning Walk

It was a frosty morning here in MO, 30 degrees but toasty inside with our wood burning furnace, which I am loving. After another rainy week today is a beautiful day with the sun shining. Hope it drys up the mud around here. It would be a beautiful day to be out on the trails -- wish Norman was home.

Wanted to share some pictures from my morning walk. It's so pretty with the leavings turning. I have a feeling they will really start to come down now after last night's frost.

Headed out the driveway

Down the road we go























So pretty and peaceful















Look what was at the end of the road! There were two but I only got one picture. Forgot to put the card back in the camera and my internal memory was full.


















Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!

Kathy

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO STEFANI ON SATURDAY THE 10th.....LOVE YOU,
AUNT PATSY

Sunday in MO

It is very fall-like here today, we are still in the 50's and it us noon. This is, and has always been, my favorite time of year. I love spring when everything is "reborn" and we are always ready for winter to be over, but there is just something about fall . . . maybe it's digging out the sweaters and sweatshirts after a long, hot summer, the turning of the leaves or the way the woods smell with the fallen leaves on the damp forest ground. Or maybe it's the anticipating of the hollidays just being around the corner. Fall always makes me reminesce. I remember watching out the window when I was a kid and seeing Daddy coming back from hunting on a fall day -- I can picture him now coming down through the field in his black and red checkered Woolrich with his gun and game in tow. Also treat or treating on Halloween and enjoying those delicious York County apples and apple cider. So many good memories to cherish.

Norman fired up our outside wood burning furnace this week. He wanted to "test" it to make sure everything was working properly before he goes back on the road. Although we really don't need much heat yet, we are going to let it fired up to heat our hot water. What a difference in the air coming out of the registers -- it is toasty warm instead of cool! Take my advice, do NOT ever install a heat pump unless you live in an area with very mild winters because you either freeze or pay very high electric bills! There is nothing like wood heat!

I made sausage gravy and biscuits for Norman and our neighbor this morning since we decided to not trailer away to ride. I don't often have time to do breakfast so Norman felt like he got a treat! Most of you know that Abby, my mule, suffered a pretty major injury two weeks ago so she is out of commission. Last Sunday I rode Lizzy, our two year old, for the first time out on the trail. She did excellent EXCEPT for water. She absolutely refused to go in the river (which is nothing more than a big creek) and every small stream was a challenge. We need to work on this but I can't do it alone and I am trying to persuade Norman into riding around here and working on the water crossing in our neighbor's pasture. He thinks we need to get some work done around here (can you imagine!) and is out on the tractor at the moment, but hopefully this afternoon we will get a short ride in . . . weather permitting. There is a slight chance of rain but I'm hoping that holds off until evening.

Well, I better head to Walmart to grab a few things -- a chore I don't look forward to. I sure miss the nice grocery stores we had in TX and also back home, but that's part of the price we pay to live in the country.

Hope everyone is well and having a restful Sunday.

Love,
Kathy

At The Lake

Good morning from Red Lion

Good morning to everyone,

We have another beautiful fall day here in York County. Yesterday the temps went into the high 70's which was a welcomed change from the cold and rain we have had for weeks. Today appears to be a carbon copy.

I quickly got my housework done yesterday so I could spend the bulk of the day outside. I managed to trim and weed about a 1/4 of my largest flowerbed. I have a huge stack of trimmings that I will box up and put out for the garbage over the course of the next several months. Today I hope to finish another quarter of the bed. I want to have the entire bed finished within the next two weeks. That flowerbed, being the largest and having the most plants and trees was neglected all summer. Now I am paying the price with sore muscles and an aching back. However, it felt so good to be outdoors working that I will gladly pay the price.

This week is a busy one for me. I have a doctor appointment on Tuesday, Wednesday is "Nana" night and Thursday evening I have an appointment to take all of my "too big" clothes to the consignment shop.

I am officially a size 16 now. I haven't been a size 16 since I was 14 years old. I find myself laughing over the fact that I don't recognize my own image in the reflection of a window or mirror. I also find myself checking to see what I am sitting on only to find that I am sitting on nothing but am feeling the bones in my butt...LOL.

Next week I have my CT scan and then see the cancer specialist the following Monday for the report. I am holding fast to the belief that he is going to tell me that I am still in remission.

This coming Saturday I am speaking to a large group of lay ministers and pastors at a conference on healing. I have been asked to share my personal experiences with not one but two encounters with cancer. I was also asked not to prepare too much because they would like me to just tell my story. This should be interesting. Thank God I had a high school English teacher who taught me NOT to say ummmmm.....between my speaking my thoughts.

I was glad to be able to make the trip to Greensburg last weekend. The ride up was beautiful. Our picnic got rained on but not rained out. Thanks to Holly, Justin and Dalton for hosting our gathering. Not even rain could dampen the spirits of those gathered for our family gathering.

LaDonna, Emily and I took our umbrellas and went for a walk in the rain around the lake behind Justin's home. Even in the rain it was beautiful and I managed to take some pictures that are worthy of framing. I hope to get them printed and hung on my wall within the coming weeks. I will post a few later.

I had better get a move on and do what needs to be done inside so I can get back to my flowerbed.

Have a great week everyone!

Doris

Fine But Not So Well

This boy knows how to relax.

Didn't mean to ignore any of you but have been busy all week. I very much enjoyed having everyone up this past weekend. It has been way too long since we were able to be together. It was too bad about the rain but we managed to enjoy ourselves in spite of it.

I had Dalton here yesterday and he awoke from his nap with a fever. Holly has had a bad cold virus for several days and we suspect he has picked that up. She took the day off of work today to stay home with him but has reported that he seems much better today. I woke up with a sore throat this morning so won't be surprised if I am coming down with something too. I hope no one carried any of our germs back to York County. Everyone stay well. LaDonna

Played Out?

LaDonna, I haven't seen any comments from you since Sunday, we didn't wear you out that much did we? I'm beginning to get worried....
Patsu

Week-end Fun

And a good time was had by all..The weather didn't damper our good times..We all got soaked at one time or another but it was soooo good to be with everyone. I always feel at home at Kenny and LaDonna's, (maybe I should move to Greensburg) Only kidding Kenny....
Joe is officially a member of the family now because he likes the potato sandwiches...Emily on the other hand may have to be put up for adoption because she thinks they need peanut butter on them......omg.
It was so much fun watching the two little boys together. Wish Owen had been there too. Missed them.
Next year maybe we can get everyone there....
Patsy

Indoor Picnic

Well mother nature tried to ruin our little family gathering but we fooled her. It rained pretty much all day yesterday so we set up tables and chairs inside of Justin's garage, put up two Easy Ups at the garage entrance, moved the grill under one of the Easy Ups and partied on. Some of the pictures that Doris posted from yesterday are a little dark but then it was a little dark outside. The little boys had a great time and played well together. What darling little humans these two are. They entertained us old folks all day with their antics. The last picture that Doris posted is Dalton pretending to cry as Uncle Wade also pretended to cry. They both had us in stitches. The pictures of Aunt P are of her making an old family favorite "fried potato sandwiches". We actually have some relatives that had never had them. It was a first for Joe and also Emily. Joe likes them, Emily not so much. The pictures of the sleeping family members are the guys that thought staying up until 3:30 A.M. the night before was a good idea. Doris, Emily and I took umbrellas and headed to the lake for a picture taking session. Perhaps Doris will post some of her photos from our rainy walk. It was fun and very peaceful as we were the only ones crazy enough to walk in the rain. Wish you all could have been along and enjoyed our fun indoor party. LaDonna

Hard Day

Frying Potatoes

Family Picnic 2009

Entertaining The Boys

Aunt P helps Aidan set up the train track.

LaDonna and Dalton reading together.

Holly and Dalton

Aidan at Justin and Holly's Home

The Picture IS Worth A thousand Words

Checking In

Hi,
I love the pictures, can't wait to see this little guy next week...Don't they make the world such a better place. Julie was just here with Aidan, I got him some cookies today from the store, and he had to eat 2, one for each hand.. Then he raided my fridge and found some grapes. Julie said "are you raiding her fridge," and Aidan said "YES". He's fasinated by all the rooster I have for decorations. He was telling Mommy "look "and pointing to all of them.
We will see you on Friday sometime...
Love, Patsy

Through A Childs Eyes

One of my favorite things to do is to sit and watch as Dalton discovers the world around him. Things that we have long taken for granted are all brand new and fascinating to him. Come join us as we travel around my back yard to discover bugs, flowers, sticks, my air conditioner, airplanes and all things wonderful. LaDonna