getting ready to leave!!...

well, more than likely this'll be my last blog posting until we get home from haiti... we're leaving tuesday morning VERY early & between now & then, man, i'm swamped!!... tonight we're heading out to get all the 'last minute items', pick up some things out of the camper, etc... tomorrow we've got to head to the airport to make sure they're still allowing 'containers' & not making you take everything in duffle bags (boy, that'll be a pain if they are!)... we've got 8 FULL containers packed & waiting for spike to drill holes in the corners & add zip strips to them for the security aspect... brit & mom are already packed & i'll be completely packed tonight & then there's spike... UGH... he's not even started!!!... i'm sure he'll make it in time, but i sure couldn't wait until the last minute like that... we've already talked to barbara & she's got things planned for us to do while we're there & we're sooooooooo excited!... i'm the last one in our family to have been there, but that's been 1½ years ago so to me, it's been forever!!... brit's never flown & her first flights out of the country, how cool will that be for her... mom's never been to haiti & we all are looking so forward to going & seeing our little chicklets birth parents as that's always the highlight of the trip for us... i'll post again when i get back & add pictures too... all of you that pray, please pray for us while we're gone (until the 9th of october) that we stay safe, have a good time, stay well & get much accomplished while we're there... god bless you!!

my pappy...

well, i lost my pappy tonight... he was well into his years & had lived a long life, but it's still hard when they're gone... he was a very good man, hard worker & father of 4 daughters (my mother being the youngest)... when i was younger, they tell me that all my older cousins called him papaw, but then i came along & i called him pappy, but he was alright with it... i know i've heard stories where they say i'd take a big handpicked bouquet of flowers to him & say, "i picked you some fluffies"... i know he got upset as they were his flowers that he'd worked so hard on & there i was at 3 years or so, pulling them all up!... here's a picture of him in these later years along with my mother... he'll for sure be missed, but i know he's in a much better place where 'fluffies' are all around him & no one will pick them!!... he's with my memaw & their daughter kay & many other family members as well... we miss you pappy, but we'll see you again soon... we love you... toodle-doo (the same word he said every night before retiring to bed)...

where's the time gone?...

well, barbara left last thursday morning to head back to haiti & we've already gotten emails from her saying how much she misses us & our cool weather! (we just love her *smile*)... we've now gotten back into the routine of it just being 'us' around here & everyone's doing rather well... kiara & ruby go to school every tuesday, wednesday & thursday & that gives karleigh & i some 'us' time & we're loving that... we went to the library last week & we're going shopping tomorrow... i've already started putting layaways in for christmas so i don't get hit hard when the time gets here... my best friend's been in pennsylvania for a week & just got home last night (it's sure a good thing she's back!)... i wasn't able to chat with her today due to me having a bad headache & so i took a nap today (can't even tell you when i did that last)... it'll be good to chat with her tomorrow as i've so missed that... she'll be the one that'll be watching our 3 little chicklets when we go to haiti (3 weeks from today!)... they're excited, but kiara keeps saying, "can i stay with angela during the days & then come home to 'you & daddy' at night?"... she's the one that likes to be home & on 'our schedule', so i'm hoping she'll do alright... she loves spending time with angela & her family, but she's a homebody too, so we'll see how it goes... we'll certainly be praying for angela & her family as she'll have 6 children in her care that week (10 days total), between her 3 & our 3 she'll have: G6y, B4y, G4y, G3y, G2y & G2y... well, it's getting late so i'd better get to bed - early mornings around here, ya know!... i'll write more tomorrow...

whew, have we been busy!...

well, last week a friend of mine, lynn from california was flying to our home to meet up with barbara walker... barbara was bringing lynns little girl, josie 'home' & indianapolis was the meeting place... barbara had more work to be done on her teeth so they opted to arrive here, then barbara would stay for the tooth issue & lynn (along with josie) would fly home... well, nothing in that whole plan fell into place at all... lynn was already on a plane when i found out that barbara wasn't able to get a flight out due to the hurricane that was affecting haiti UGH... when lynn got here i told her of the news & she worked very hard to make things work together... i was able to get barbara & josie another flight scheduled for yesterday, september 5, but that meant lynn would be stuck in indiana until then... she worked it out at home with all her other children & so she's been here since then... we'd a camping trip with our family this past friday, saturday, sunday & monday so we just took lynn along for the ride & we all had a wonderful time... we arrived home yesterday afternoon, got ready & headed for the airport... her daughter & barbara came in last night at 8:30pm & man, was it good to see them both... lynn's chosen to rename her daughter naomi faith & she loves it! YEAH!!... lynn & naomi's both leaving tomorrow morning & then barbara will be flying out thursday morning... it's been so nice having them all here & boy, have my girls enjoyed all the added attention *smile*... well, i'm bushed & it's only 11:30pm, but i've got to get up for another busy day at 5:30am so tata for now & i'll write again tomorrow (tomorrYO as kiara says it!)...