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!

Spaghetti Pizza

I found this really great recipe while thumbing through one of my Kraft cookbooks. It's called Spaghetti Pizza. Jonathan and I love it so much that I thought I would share it. This is one of those recipes that are full proof and can be made to your taste. If you like spaghetti, then you will like this. Some of you may have heard of it before, but here is the recipe anyway:


8 oz spaghetti, cooked and drained
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup of milk
1/2 tsp garlic powder
Salt and pepper, optional
1 pound of lean ground beef or ground turkey
1 small onion, optional
1-14oz can of tomato sauce
1 envelope of Good Seasonings Garlic & Herb Salad dressing mix
1- cup part skim mozzarella cheese
any other pizza toppings you may like

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Toss spaghetti, milk, egg, garlic powder, salt and pepper together in a large bowl. Spread evenly over 12" pizza pan.
Brown meat and onions in medium skillet. Drain.
Add tomato sauce and seasoning packet to meat. heat through until hot.
Spread sauce mixture evenly over noodles.
Layer pizza toppings over sauce and finish off with sprinkled cheese.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until cheese is melted.
Cut into slices and serve.

I make a healthier version by making this with multi-grain noodles, lean ground turkey and fat free cheese. I also added some turkey peperoni that were also great.
From start to table, it shouldn't take more then 45 minutes.
Give it a try!!

Hey sis. For 1/6 slice it's only 7 points. Even the hungry guys should like it!!

More Pictures

My new do. I decided to do something different to my hair this time. I haven't had hair this short in over 10 years now. But this is definitely a new style for me. Now I guess I actually have to put some effort into my hair every morning

Jonathan and I on our new Polaris. That's me with my new "Rock star" helmet (that's what the helmet is really called)

Jonathan and I met Nick and Betsy for dinner at Olive Garden after church on Sunday. Little Max was such a good boy. He is such a happy baby, except when he is hungry. You'll notice he is already a dead ringer of my brother. He should just start calling him Mini-Me.

Jonathan and Max watching football. Looks like Max saw a good play!!

A Month of Updates

Well, it seems our fall activities have finally slowed down. We have a few slow weekends now before the Christmas activities begin. So here are a few things that have been happening the past few weekends,
The weekend after we got back from Canaan Valley, I invited my two best girls over for a sleep over. I have known these girls since they were born. There Mother and I met as kids when we lived on the same street in Vandalia. She and her family moved away, but she and I were still keeping in touch. For the past few years, my friend has had some hard times and she and I have not been close. These girls are temporarily staying with other family until there mother can get her life straightened out. After not seeing the girls for several months, there grandma brought them again to the Swigart Family Hog Roast. I always get so emotional when I see them. It's amazing just how much they grow every time I see them. So after seeing them, I decided to invite them to our house for a sleep over. We had so much fun. We started Friday night by making some cookies, then a rousing game of Shoots and Ladders (even got Jonathan to play with us) then movies and popcorn. We snuggled on the couch to watch the lively Hannah Montana and Veggie Tales. After a VERY late night, the girls were wide awake at 7am Saturday, ready for there Chocolate Chip Pancake and bacon Breakfast. Once the revolving door of the shower was done, we loaded up and headed to Greenville to do some girls day shopping. They each got to pick out there own outfit and a pair of shoes. I should really apologize to the people at JCPenney for the possible mess we left behind. After trying quite possibly everything on in the girls section, they finally picked there out fits. I did my best to put the close back where they were supposed to go. I should also give a big thanks to the gentleman that helped us at Shoebilee. He was very patient and helpful while we had to try on every shoe before we could pick one. All the shopping left us hungry, so we headed to the McDonald's to play in the cold and wet Play land and grab some Barbie Happy Meals. I then drug them through the Grocery to grab the fixins for dinner. We headed home and warmed up with Hot Chocolate and a rest while watching Veggie Tales.......again.....and again.. The girls then tackled there Turkey Taco dinner like champs and then it was time to go home. I hope they had as much fun as I did that weekend. I just wanted to take the time to spoil them and I'm pretty sure they were sufficiently spoiled. After taking them home, I came home and crashed on the couch. WHEW!!

Next, we fast forward to last weekend.
After months of discussing when the right time would be, Jonathan and I got us a new toy. We got a new 2007 Polaris Sportsman 500X2 Limited Edition. This one legally seats 2 people. They call it a 2-up. For the moment, it will get used for plowing snow through the winter, but we are hoping to maybe do some trail riding next spring/summer.

Now this brings us to today.
I made a turkey for the first time today. It was something that I new I needed to learn how to do, but was always a bit intimidated buy such a big piece of meat. So many people kept telling me that it's Soooooo easy and that I shouldn't be afraid to try it. So, I picked the cheapest per pound (just in case I really messed it up) and started thawing my turkey on Wednesday. I new we didn't have any plans for today and it really worked out to be a good day to be inside at home. I made sure to check my cookbooks, the Internet and of course my dad for advice on how to cook a turkey. I had myself a bit frazzled while wrestling with the turkey, but Jonathan was able to finally get it closed up for me. I gave it a good Canola rub and tossed it into the oven. Since we don't have a window on our oven, I had to resist the urge to open the oven door every 10 minutes. I thought the hardest part was judging when to take it out of the oven. The breast meat was done long before the dark meat which left me worried about drying out the breast meat. I couldn't stand the wait anymore, so we took it out when the dark meat read 17o degrees. The white meat did get a bit dry but the dark meat was perfect (which is what we like). We now have a weeks worth of turkey left overs to eat. Does anyone have recipe ideas for turkey left overs?
My 2 best girls. Karizma (left) and Karma (right) showing off their fabulous cookies

Our new toy.

Hopefully if the sun dicides to ever come out, we can get some better pictures.

Turkey ready to go into the oven.

Turkey ready to be eaten. Isn't he perty????