Friday, November 30, 2018

October Snow




I'm glad this snow was in Colorado instead of Ohio. Not only am I not ready for it, I have no desire this year to go out and build a snowman or in any other way enjoy the snow, except from my window.
It is very much fun, however, to see the younger members of my family have a big time in that cold stuff. On the 14th of October, John was out in the weather helping the kids build a snowman, while the boys also enjoyed throwing it around and Julia had fun rolling in it.

Thursday, November 29, 2018

Cyber Monday


The term Black Friday has been used for years. I am quite familiar with it even though  I  don't get out and take part in it. 

New to my ears, if not to the world, is the term Cyber Monday. I guess once a person does the black Friday thing and the sales following that and they don't find what they really want, they can go online the following Monday and shop til they drop... their phone...or crash their computers or overload their credit cards.

Now that is something this man of mine can like. He certainly does like to order things online. We do get plenty of packages delivered to him. He  feels like it is easier to  do that than to get in the car and go to the store. 

I  abhor shopping online...at least most of the time. It could be because I rarely buy anything but food and clothing these days. There are seven  grocery stores within 5 miles of me.  One is right down the street. It is so easy to buy food, probably to our detriment.  And clothing, in my mind, has to fit and that is often impossible  without trying it on.

Obviously there are plenty of people who enjoy the convenience and ease of shopping online! Thus we have Cyber Monday.

Wednesday, November 28, 2018

Harvesting Memories, ORU Spectacular





Back in October  I posted a layout of ORU 'girls'  together in  Ohio for several days. Our Texas cohorts had come to enjoy some fall days with us. We had a wonderful let your hair down time together..

Tonight  I'm posting one page from October 12 and one from October 15. Eventually, I may have layouts to represent all the activities for that week.  

These are two of several pictures that were taken at Pine Tree Barn. Jill was the first to arrive from Texas. We didn't waste any time, those of us who could take off and  go to Wooster for lunch jumped at the chance.

The bottom layout is just silly. We had to show our youth by doing something silly at my house with only one witness...my husband Ron, the camera man. Not everyone my age for sure can throw her leg up on the kitchen counter. I'm saying that, though I've never actually seen anyone else  do it besides me when I challenged my teenage granddaughter at Christmas. Oh yes, she could do it as well.

I really have to confess that not all these ladies are as old as I am. I am the oldest with the youngest one here at least 15 years younger.

I feel I must explain the comment about Texas girls. All of us in the  bottom picture either live there at present or used to live there (one was born and raised there) or in my case have Texas roots. My dad was a Texan before he married my mother.




Tuesday, November 27, 2018

Early Snow


Here in Ohio,  we have a little snow.  It was a late autumn, so leaves are still falling like crazy from our oak trees.  Snow covered lawns of grass are very smooth and pretty, but there is a certain charm here to snow covered oak leaves smothering the lawn. Of course that  could be attributed to 'beauty being in the eye of the beholder', or maybe just a positive attitude.  I am enjoying the sight.

These pictures above show our little Julia on her back deck in Colorado,catching snow flakes on her tongue this October the eleventh. It was an early snow. She might not look as if she was ready, but she enjoyed those snowflakes just the same.

Monday, November 26, 2018

The Trump Winery



I'm  not sure about this, but this looks like the Trump Winery. It is in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Our granddaughter, Leah was  there with her boyfriend's sister Katelynn in October.

Although Leah works in admissions for Meredith College in Raleigh, North Carolina, she frequently visits Charlottesville.

Sunday, November 25, 2018

A Couple of Nuts?


Here is our granddaughter Brittanie with a 'couple of nuts'.  It is just what takes over sometimes when you are 4 (Ava is)  and especially when taking selfies.   I hope she enjoys  this when she grows up as much as we do now. She is a cutie.

We are so happy that  Brittanie's grandmother came to the states when she married an American missionary. (We in the United States like immigrants...legal immigrants.) Ameda is a very sweet lady. Brittanie's mother is one of Ameda's children.

As much as we love immigrants, we do not have a place for those who invade our country. as those who are in Tijuana  now are attempting. This type of thing has been going on too long and we are finally resolute on protecting our borders.  I am praying that those intent on breaking the law in order to come here, turn around and go back home. Let them come the legal way and we will welcome them with open arms.

Saturday, November 24, 2018

Pretty as a Princess


Julia met a princess at a new pizza place in Ft Collins.  I'm not sure, but by looking at her, I would guess she is very impressed by her lipstick.  

I'm not sure about calling all the little girls princesses. It seems too many of them are growing up these days thinking they really are.  

In spite of my belief, I think our little Julia is as pretty as a princess.

Wednesday, November 21, 2018

More Fun in the Leaves



What can be more fun this time of year than playing in the fallen leaves? Sharing a pile of them!

Oliver jumped into the leaves and close behind came his big brother Caleb. They  enjoy the leaves and I enjoy the colors and the photos of my sweet and funny grandsons...It's the perfect combination.

Hopefully we know the real story of Thanksgiving, not just the watered down, faith absent story they've been telling us for decades now. The pilgrims were people who were fleeing their countries in search of a place where they could be free to worship as they thought they should, not like they were being commanded by their country. It was a very difficult trip of nearly 3 months across the sea. They started out with about 40 of them among the other passengers going for adventures sake, I suppose.  Half of the those freedom seekers died that year of illness, starvation, whatever. By the next year they had found friends in the Indians and they learned from each other. In November of that year in celebration of  one year in their new home, they had a feast with the Indians and worshipped the God of heaven for  giving them what they needed. It was a true Thanksgiving.

Praying that you all have a very special Thanksgiving tomorrow.


Tuesday, November 20, 2018

Fall Colors At Last


For more than one reason I'm missing all the gorgeous colors this year.  It isn't that  I've not seen them. I have, but it was for such a short time. They didn't turn until really late...like this month and then they didn't stay long at all. Not only that, but I just haven't had the opportunity to get out and make any trips just for shooting photos. I just don't have many pictures that lend themselves to layouts with beautiful fall colors. 

But I just  got these  pictures of Caleb and the leaves piled up in their yard.  I'm so glad  Caleb and his siblings had a chance to make  some great fall shots  for their mom's 'camera'.

Monday, November 19, 2018

The Farm Meets Technology



I love the fact that  our grand children are familiar  with  the new technology info skills,  yet still make time for meaningful real life activities like sports and nature studies. I love the fact that they have been well schooled in farm life at Laughing Buck Farm School in their hometown.

We used to call that well rounded. Is that generally a thing of the past?

Since I don't know if one can read the message on the layout above on a cell phone, I'm copying it here: "Technology brings instagram to the farm. This picture, most likely taken with a cell phone, was sent to instagram  where we see the photographer up in the corner and a list of farm activities. We can show our approval and add a comment. What a  cool world it is when technology comes to the farm, but doesn’t interfere with all the natural fun the kids always have there.

On your right, Oliver interacts with a chicken at farm school."




Sunday, November 18, 2018

Family Love


I think we may have the computer back in working order. It is backed up and every other little thing that might keep me from posting on this blog has been vanquished, hopefully!

I love the picture above of our sweet granddaughter and her maternal grandmother who is a real joy to know.  She came to the states from Ecuador as the wife of a missionary. They settled here in Ohio many years ago.

Legal immigration is a wonderful thing. I support it wholeheartedly.

Tomorrow I will undergo some testing nearby, but should be ready to  blog soon after that.

Friday, November 16, 2018

Painted Gourds


Laughing Buck Farm is a wonderful place for the kids of Fort Collins. They have so many learning activities during the year.  This year they provided  a lot of autumn fun.  They dressed up their farm friends for Halloween. They made leaf ghosts and dolls, they carved pumpkins and this day they painted gourds.

I myself am  quite ignorant of gourds. We never raised them, I've never cooked them. I've never  even seen anything like this one before. But I love this picture of Oliver with this big brightly colored one.

Thursday, November 15, 2018

Happy Birthday Chelle




I finally have gotten things together with a computer that is working well and has a functional Bridge.
(Bridge is Adobe's  desktop media browser and powerful digital asset manager that allows one to efficiently locate, organize, browse, preview, and batch process content files.) 

Now that you know more than you ever cared to know, it means I am able to find things on my computer, work with them and bring them up when I want to use them...as in putting them on this blog. Ron and I have had a rough couple of days getting things to work again.

This is a birthday picture of Chelle with her family.  It is one of the  things I've been trying to get done  since Monday, but I just couldn't get things together.  All is fine now. I can relax now.


Wednesday, November 14, 2018

Artistic Chelle


While Ashley was doing anime in Atlanta, Chelle was running around with her artist's palette
looking for something fun to do. The painted Bible page was one of her activities the next month,  but  I added it to this page because the colors look so very nice together.

I guess this will could be her birthday page since  I published pictures of her husband on her birthday. This one will suffice until  I make another one tomorrow  with much better pictures.



Sunday, November 11, 2018

November 11


There are several reasons for Ron and me to celebrate this day. Of broader importance is the fact that it is Veteran's Day, which will always be on November  11.  Veterans Day originated as “Armistice Day” on Nov11, 1919, the first anniversary of the end of World War I. That was ended, not only on the 11th month and the 11th day, but  also at the 11th hour.

I salute all the Veterans out there.

The next in importance to me is it is our third daughter, Chelle's birthday. Next, it is my cousin, Linda Turner's birthday.

And then last and perhaps never again, our Harvest  Dinner at church fell on November 11th this year. It was quite the thing with lots of good food. Just what we need...maybe not, but oh so wonderful on the tastebuds and lots of great company.

The pictures above have nothing to do with November 11 at all, but I did design the page today, November 11. It tells about our son-in-law's play Twilight of the Gods,  which ran again this October in Nashville, Tennessee. This time Greg played the part of Edgar Allan Poe. I certainly wish I could have been there to see it.  I lament the fact that I didn't.

By the way, Greg is Chelle's husband. So he was in on celebrating her birthday today.

Saturday, November 10, 2018

On Lake Time


Well we still have to adjust our clocks like everyone else when Daylight Savings Time  comes around and when it goes away, but there is still a little bit of freedom here at the lakes...during boating season at least.  One of the best relaxers  I know is to just go out on the lake and forget what time it is...just relax.

This picture was taken 2 months ago. Oh what has happened  in that  time. It has gone from pleasantly warm to snowing. The biggest issue with me  is, the leaves have just started to fall...they are very late! There are lots of them all over the ground and we can't  get them up easily  while they are wet with snow.  Perhaps it will warm up some later...it usually does...Indian summer. I hope that does happen this year or we may have leaves on the ground until spring.

It is always fun to take someone out on the boat who has not been at 'the lakes' before. It is a wonderful area to share with friends.

This time, Laura was here from Texas, visiting her sister and my friend Phyllis. It was a good day.

Friday, November 9, 2018

Community Service


We're going back some tonight. When Ron joined the group of people at church who were  doing a community service project in June, I was extremely busy working on pictures for  our middle son's funeral.  So,  I just didn't get this done.  I had made a book covering that time frame, but had not included mention of that wonderful day of service to the neighborhood in Cuyahoga Falls.  I ran across these pictures tonight and decided to go back in time. Glad I did. 

Writing of Mark's funeral was coincidental to the fact that today we went to a very nice funeral service for a lovely friend at church. She was the 97 year old mother-in-law of one of my ORU friends, Paulette.  It was a beautiful celebration of her life.

It is wonderful when we have no question at all about the destination of the deceased and that is certainly the case here... She raised a very special family as a result of her steadfast faith.

Thursday, November 8, 2018

Our Sweet Maggie


We are  both so very glad that five years ago, Ron chose  to give me a little dog for my birthday, even though he had wanted a big  dog. This little girl was the best choice for us. She is my little princess and her daddy's Tomboy.  She is the perfect mix between prissy, smart and pretty, yet  the down right dirty work outside, ride in the truck and on the tractor kind of sidekick. 

She doesn't play favorites and she communicates with us very well. She understands everything we say...at least it seems she does. 

So with all our children out of state, she is the center of attention around here. Our oldest daughter claims that her dad treats the dog better than he ever treated any of them. She is right. However it is a good thing. The world would not appreciate a person spoiled as badly as our dog.



Wednesday, November 7, 2018

Old Town Churn




Old town Churn is a brand new ice cream shop in the original part of Fort Collins, Colorado called Old Town. It is a great historical place to visit. Caleb, Oliver and Julia went to it's grand opening with their mom and dad, on the 27th of October.  As part of the party, they were offering to paint faces...and of course these cuties were up for that! And how cool they look. 

These are not their Halloween pictures, but the time was right and they do have masks painted on their faces and they do have special ice cream treats. So, I added the Trick or Treat title for a fun page.

Tuesday, November 6, 2018

Carving Pumpkins


It's fun to watch mommy and daddy carve pumpkins, but it is even more fun to do your own, right Caleb? 

Julia, Caleb and Oliver show their  cool jack-o-lanterns on Halloween.


Well, I have to admit, I'm a little spooked right now as they count votes. It would be very hard to watch things go in the socialistic direction once again.

 Hopefully by morning God comforts me enough to carry on...I know He can.  And besides. This world is not  my home, I'm just passing through. My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue.


Monday, November 5, 2018

Ghostly Fun



Tim and Carolyn really made a beautiful appearance with these grand costumes.

 Well. I've had a few very busy days and I'm heading to bed early.  At least I was able to post a Halloween picture.

Hopefully we  won't be scared tomorrow night when the results  roll in.

Sunday, November 4, 2018

A Witch Only on Halloween


Last nights post showed Ashley and  Mason trick or treating at their own house along with two neighbors.  Their mother was passing out the candy, dressed as a witch. And here is the layout with her in costume. Like I said last night. There is no trouble coming up with costumes at their house!

Tonight  I'm concerned that many people will be tricked into voting for people they really wouldn't want if they new the truth. Some of  those  people  are not being on the up and up about what they stand for. If they have changed their tune lately, it is not a good sign. They see the writing on the wall and now want to appear to be what the people are looking for this election.  Before you vote. Check to see what the candidates have stood for and done in the past. That is a better sign of what they will do again.  

I was speaking  to a friend this morning about the many thousands of illegals who are heading to our border in caravans. He didn't realize there was a problem.  It would be an invasion if they were to cross into our nation. Those who refuse to listen to both sides of  the story do not realize how dangerous this is.  They can't be blamed really for not knowing.  It is the job of what is called the fake news to keep them ignorant, so that our country can be overthrown. It is very difficult for me, one who loves this country and always have, to  imagine why people want  to throw away their freedom like that, but there are many who have been schooled that way all the way from pre-k by teachers who have been converted to Marxism. 

Those of us who lived through it with our eyes  open saw it happen. When Khrushchev of Russia, told us they would bury us, he meant it. They set out to  plant Marxist professors in the journalism and education classes in the universities. Most teachers these days went to those colleges and universities and had to learn socialism...another word for communism. So did most journalists. So we are now educated by those teachers and get our news from those journalists. Our textbooks are also slanted that way. 

It is a sad state of affairs. But, like I said, some of us still have a clear head and a complete picture of what they are doing. They have brainwashed a large portion of our population,  but not all of us.

Please educate yourself by listening to or reading both sides and VOTE this Tuesday if you have not all ready.  Please don't  vote more than once or encourage illegals to vote...if they get caught, they will be thrown out of the country. Hopefully, all the dead people who have been voting in past elections have been found and removed from the voting  roles. It is about time!

Saturday, November 3, 2018

Trick or Treat



Well there should be no reason to go without a Halloween costume in the Greene family. Since their dad has a theater and writes plays, there is a big love of costuming. Chelle and Ashley both love to make costumes. So there is really no problem finding something  to wear on Halloween.

Here, Ashley is wearing one of her cosplay outfits, that of Link,  which you've seen posted on this blog earlier this week. And Mason? Do you recognize him on your right? He certainly does look different. He might be  dressed as someone you know.  I can't say that  I recognize what character, if any, he is; but he really does look scary. I mean if I looked in the mirror and my hair looked like that, I'd be frightened.

When  this picture was taken, they were begging at their own  house, where their mother was dressed in costume and handing out treats.



Friday, November 2, 2018

Backyard Fun...Climbing Dome 2


More pictures of the kids on their climbing dome. Back yard fun.  

I need to get to work now and get some more layouts done. I caught up with two books. Now  I'm ready to put October in the next issue. I'm not sure I'll have enough pictures, though. I'm thinking Halloween, for example. We miss it here. No parties. No children begging on this main street. We miss all the fun. All I have to look forward to is pictures of the grandchildren and sometimes our grown children in their costumes. So far I have four pictures...just four. I will post them as I get them, hopefully starting tomorrow.

Thursday, November 1, 2018

More About Link


I'm posting more  pictures of Windwaker Link and I just found out something I had not known before. It is very interesting and of course, if I played the video  game Legend of Zelda,  I would have known all along.

Ashley had dressed as Link before at another cosplay event, but I didn't know that Link has  different looks for whatever protagonist he happens to be. Now I just need to find out how many looks  there are.  

In the meantime, I think I'll just work on scrapbook pages for my fun and leave the game playing and cosplaying for the younger ones.