Happy 40th Anniversary Mother and Dad Yoder!!

Yesterday, we tried to pull a fast one over on Jonathan's parents. They were celebrating there 40th Wedding Anniversary. We decided to try to gather the family at Rob's Restaurant for an Anniversary Luncheon.
We were very fortunate to get Jonathan's brother Steve and his family to make a day trip up just for the event. We also got all of her brothers and there wives to show too. We had a great time just talking and catching up and eating really good food. Thanks to everyone for taking time out of there day to celebrate with us!!
Above is the beautiful cake we had made for them. Every flower was edible except for the Tiger Lilly. Thanks Linda for coming through for me again at the last minute!!

Here is the happy couple. Congratulations!

This is a picture of Jonathan's parents along with her brothers and there wives. In the center, keeping the restless crowd in line, is Grandpa Lavy.

Catching people with there mouths full. Thanks to the folks at Rob's Restaurant for there service in our private room and really great food. If you haven't been there yet, you should add it to your list.

9 to 5

Well, the Holidays are officially over. The tree is put away along with all other visual signs of Christmas in the house. I have been fortunate enough to have had quite a few days off in December from work. I am one of those annoying people who seem to save there vacation days until the end of the year, just in case.
Now that I feel sufficiently rested, it is now back to real life. "Workin 9 to 5" (or 8 to 5). I have to honestly say that I am a creature of habit, which means I missed my daily home/work routine. For some reason I seem to get more done in my day if there is a busier schedule (if that makes sense). I guess I am prone to put things off and procrastinate more if I have "nothing" to do at home.
Even though I am now back to the hustle and bustle of work, somehow the routine is comforting.

This could be a different story by about April or so. I will probably be tired of the 8 to 5 and ready for a spring Vacation!
I will start looking for a good song now!

Christmas Surprises

The ugly rooster above, if you recall, surprised my dad last New Years day. It "mysteriously" appeared on his front porch. Courtesy of my sister in Arizona. This year, the rooster made front row on the wall of fame. Notice the Santa hat and the bow around his neck. This Christmas, my dad sent my sister a very tacky frog which you can see on her blog link to the left for Wendy. Obviously the gifts are getting more and more tacky with each year. I can't wait until next year...
And these are the Christmas gifts that Jonathan and I decided to get each other. a new stove and refrigerator. We ended up getting various gift cards and cash for Christmas from other people. So the day after Christmas we headed out the door looking for a great deal. It ended up that Hansbargers had the best deal. Our old clunkers were hauled out on Friday and the new were brought in. As you can see, I am using the oven for the first time for my Chocolate Chip Cookies.
It also looks like Santa's UPS elves FINALLY arrived with Jonathan's Christmas present. I got Jonathan his first Telescope (upon request). We will be waiting for the warm weather before we take it out side. For now, we have it set up in the living room. I told him that instead of looking like a star gazer, he looked like the weirdo looking out the window. LOL!!

Notice Something Out of Place??

Since I had one more Vacation day to burn at work before the end of the year, I decided to take today off. One item on my list was to get the Christmas decorations put away. As I was taking the ornaments off the tree, the cat started to pace around the tree as if he was worried about what I was doing to his tree. I went to the garage to take the first box out and came back to find the cat nearly to the top of the tree!! Previously we had to resort to the squirt bottle to keep him off the tree. But since everything was off the tree today, I just had to laugh at how high he made it this time.

Christmas fun with Pepper

Why Jesus is Better then Santa

Below is a quick comparative explaining why Jesus is better then Santa. We received this from our Sunday class teacher after he found this online. I'm sure most of you have seen this before, I thought it was to cool to pass up.
Enjoy.


Santa lives at the North Pole...
JESUS is everywhere.

Santa rides in a sleigh...
JESUS rides on the wind and walks on the water.

Santa comes but once a year...
JESUS is an ever present help.

Santa fills your stockings with goodies...
JESUS supplies all your needs.

Santa comes down your chimney uninvited...
JESUS stands at your door and knocks, and then enters your heart when invited.

You have to wait in line to see Santa...
JESUS is as close as the mention of His name.

Santa lets you sit on his lap...
JESUS lets you rest in His arms.

Santa doesn't know your name, all he can say is "Hi little boy or girl, what's your name?"...
JESUS knew our name before we were born. Not only does He know our name, He knows our address too. He knows our history and future and He even knows how many hairs are on our heads.

Santa has a belly like a bowl full of jelly...
JESUS has a heart full of love.

All Santa can offer is HO HO HO...
JESUS offers health, help and hope.

Santa says "You better not cry"...
JESUS says "Cast all your cares on me for I care for you."

Santa's little helpers make toys...
JESUS makes new life, mends wounded hearts, repairs broken homes and builds mansions.

Santa may make you chuckle but...
JESUS gives you joy that is your strength.

While Santa puts gifts under your tree...
JESUS became our gift and died on a tree... the cross.

We need to put Christ back in CHRISTmas, Jesus is still the reason for the season.

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).

Paige Jayden: A Christmas Wish

Paige Jayden is my sisters granddaughter in Tuscon, Arizona. She was born less then a month apart from my nephew Colton Taylor. When Paige was an infant she was diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type 1 (below is the description). Praise God, Paige has already outlived the doctors expectations by 2 years and is now growing at the rate of a normal 4 year old. She is also rapidly outgrowing her only form of mobility and has now become big enough that she needs a special handicap van for transportation. The family is holding a fundraiser to help pay for this new van for Paige. The family will be raffling off a handmade quilt along with other gift certificates as a part of this fund raiser..
If you are interested in making a donation for Paige, please go to:
http://www.bestfundraiserwebsite.com/registries/view/56816969
with this link, you will also see a picture of her and this message below:


Hello Everybody, Most of you know that I have a niece PAIGE. Well she will be 4 years old on December 31st. A very big step for her. Paige Jayden was diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type 1 at the age of 4 months old. We were given the worst news in our lives, this disease is fatal, with no cure, and that she would not live to be over 2 years old. She received a gastrostomy shortly after diagnoses and a tracheotomy at about 6 months old. She requires the use of a ventilator 24 hours a day and suctioning to remove secretions form her mouth and lungs. Paige is an alert, bright, intelligent child who attends Project Able at Marshall Elementary school. Like most 3 years old girls she enjoys being read to, watching TV,princesses, fairies, and "Fancy Nancy". She is loved and accepted by her family and all those who take the time to get to know her. Just a little info:Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) Type 1SMA occurs when a vital gene (Survivor motor neuron gene SMN) is deleted or mutated preventing the creation on the protein necessary for muscle strength. A second, nearly identical copy gene SMN2 is present in all SMA patients. SMA is an autosomal recessive neurodegenerative disease characterized by a dramatic loss of spinal motor neurons resulting in muscle weakness, atrophy, and in the worst cases the ability to breathe and swallow. The mind is unaffected while the muscles waste away. Our family is looking for some help. My grandmother, Paige's Great-grandmother has hand made a queen size quilt and we are raffling off along with gift certificates in hopes to help in the expense of a wheelchair accessible van. Paige has gotten to big for her car seat and is very hard to get her in the car with all her equipment. The raffle will be held on her 4th birthday December 31st 2008 The tickets are 1 for $1.00 or 6 for $5.00 I would be happy to fill out the raffle tickets for you. We all thank you in advance,
Jamie & Family

The Creation Museum

This past Saturday, Jonathan and I decided to take a fun day. Just a day where we could have a little fun but not have to travel so far.
We headed to The Creation Museum in Petersburg, KY. This was something that we have wanted to do for a while now but never made the time. We figured this time around Christmas would be great.
We were completely amazed by the whole experience. I think they did a great job on everything and we can't wait to go back in the spring/summer when the garden is in bloom.
After about 2 1/2 hours in the museum we headed outside to walk the grounds. They had a live Nativity scene on the property. Unfortunately we didn't stay past dark to see all the lights lit up. We also paid a visit to the petting zoo where Jonathan got bit by the over sized pig and nearly bit by one of the older donkeys. My favorite was the baby donkey with the coat. I don't think I've ever seen a donkey that small before.
Once we finished at the museum we headed back North again and stopped at an open house for one of Jonathan's friends that just turned 40.
After the B-day party, we kept going north and made a detour at the Spaghetti Warehouse in Dayton for a late dinner, which is always worth the headache of getting there.
Once we were sufficiently stuffed, we headed home and crashed.
Definitely a memorable day.
One of the many Adam and Eve scenes at the museum.

Jonathan getting up close and personal with the Camel. Once she realized Jonathan didn't have food, she was no longer interested

This is the over sized grouchy pig that took a nip of Jonathan. I didn't know at the time that it had tried to bite him, so I kept telling him to get closer so I could get this picture. Now I feel bad.

And this is the cute little donkey with a jacket. He was a bit shy.

And this is us!! Jonathan trying to get the picture centered.

There never seems to be anyone around when we want to take a picture.

Thanksgiving Festivities

I know this post is almost 2 weeks behind, but here it is.
This Thanksgiving we had a change to our usual Thanksgiving routine. This year Jonathan and I got to spend all Thanksgiving Day at my Dads house, when usually we are bouncing from one dinner to the next. We arrived at my Dads house just after 12 noon and spent the day with Dad and Carols family.
Talk about busy. Our family is beginning to outgrow it's gathering point. There are now 6 small grand kids that cheerfully add to the excitement of the day. Also, this was the first Thanksgiving for the newest arrival, Max. Of course he doesn't get what's going on, just that he is being passed around and meeting people for the first time.
We were sufficiently stuffed really glad to see everyone.

On Friday morning, we were up early and heading to Oakland City, Indiana with Polaris in tow. We were off to have another Thanksgiving with Jonathan's brother Steve and his family along with Jonathan's parents. I was so excited the whole way there because we were meeting Steve's wife, Sylvia, for the first time.
When we arrived, we were met with smiles and big hugs from all. Once we all got acquainted, we were treated to a pizza lunch. We were then off for our first 4-wheeling trip. I wish we had taken the camera because the trip was quite interesting. We went 16 miles around the coal mines of the area. I can honestly say that I have never been that close to a coal mine before. Through out the weekend we could hear the blasting that the mines were doing from the house. And of course when you have coal mines, you also have trains. TRAINS TRAINS and MORE TRAINS!! Steve's house has train tracks in front across the street and in back of the property line. These trains seemed to run a lot through the day while we were there. It's funny because they usually didn't notice the trains, but Jonathan and I jumped up to see every time they came through. It's kinda like when you grow up in Vandalia and your plates rattle across the picnic table when you have visitors over because Emery cargo planes are flying over your house. My family didn't notice the planes anymore, but our guest looked at us like the sky is falling. (true story)
We spent the rest of the weekend just enjoying the family and eating LOTS of food.
We also got to meet two of Sylvia's kids. James, who was very welcoming and Winter Dawn who arrived on Saturday for dinner with her husband Roy and toddler son Andrew (what a character). Winter brought lots of food for dinner, one of which were some awesome Chicken 'n' Dumplings. Winter--- can I please, please, please get that recipe?????????????????? I have been forced to turn to the Internet to find something only close to what you made!!
After we all had our fill and then a later refill, we headed up to the video store for some movies. Wouldn't ya know it.........we stumbled across the local Christmas Parade. We got stuck at the video store while the parade passed but managed to score a bag full of candy that was thrown out to the kids on the street. (no we didn't steal from the kids, they had there bags full too)
On Sunday morning we met everyone at the Denny's in town for breakfast then headed back to the house for the afternoon.
At about 3pm on Sunday, with the truck cab loaded down with left overs and the trailer safely secured, we gave our hugs and said good bye to everyone.
I have to honestly say that we had a really great time. You never know what to expect when you head into a situation and meet new people for the first time. I guess I was excited and nervous before we got there, but any nerves that I had were quickly put away. We were made to feel welcome as soon as we got there.
Thanks Steve and Sylvia for the hospitality. You guys were great!! We hope to see you both with the kids around here soon.


Jonathan's Parents on the left. Steve and Sylvia in the Middle. Jonathan and I on the right. with Benjamin in front and Elizabeth in the pink (she's taller then me now!!) Daniel is taking the picture, who is now 17!!
Max with Grandma Carol

Max and Grandpa making faces at each other

Happy Birthday Colton Taylor!!!

My little nephew in Arizona, Colton, turned a big 4 today. Happy Birthday Colton. I hope you had a great day!! Miss you and love you bunches!