Merry Christmas from the Varner's

Merry Christmas from Bev & Richard

Merry Christmas from Brian and Ryan

Merry Christmas from Rebecca and Stephen

Merry Christmas from Stephen, Freya, Max & Henry

Merry Christmas from Lisa, Bryan, Joshua, & Kayla

I Promise to Post More Frequently!

We had such a fun Thanksgiving. On Thanksgiving Day Richard and I were in DeSoto with Mother and Dad and Stephen, Freya & boys stopped by on their way to Kansas. It was beautiful weather and we had such a good time. On Friday we hosted the Varner Family Thanksgiving

and had lots of fun, lots of food, lots of visiting ! Saturday evening the family went to Chuck E Cheese and I always marvel how the "big" kids help the "little" kids to have a good time! Here is Stephen entertaining Henry.

Grandpa helping Kayla pitch the balls.

Brian giving Max some shooting pointers.

Auntie Rebecca entertaining Henry.

And you are wondering what this is??? A week ago we got a call from Richard (while he was on the road) from a "foreign" number. He had a slight mishap with his cell phone. The forklift driver must have driven over his cell phone. Richard operates on the premise that everything can be fixed if you just work with it, so we were all wondering who he was going to ask to "fix" his phone. When he got home he brought his pieces in a Burger King cup and had faced the fact that this was beyond help!

It's Been a Long, Long Time!

Happy Birthday, Brian! We waited until Rebecca was home for the weekend from Denver to celebrate Brian's birthday. Nothing like dinner with the "fam" after church.

Not quite 24 candles on the cake!

A picture of Joshua and Kayla from the church Fall Festival. What a fun evening!

A Big Weekend to Indiana!

Bev, Lisa and the children started on Thursday and we spent the evening and night with Grandma and Grandpa Smiley in DeSoto.

Kayla and Great-Grandpa spending a few moments in the porch swing. The rain followed us all the way there and we would soon find out would follow us all the way to Indiana. (Thanks to Hurricane Ike!)

Finally.....we arrived in Bremen and the cousins got to spend time together playing.

Janelle and Doug at the wedding reception.

I had to include this picture showing the huge bouquet of flowers. We have been following the journey of growing these flowers all summer and they were beautiful. They were even picked in pouring rain.

518 N 6th Street DeSoto, Mo 63020

This is Mother and Dad's new home. Barry had flowers growing on the deck that were just beautiful. I know he had just finished staining the deck, too! Everything looked so nice!

The very first morning, Mother sat down and played hymns at the piano.

Susanne and John were organizing the kitchen.

This picture doesn't do justice to the huge pantry just off of the kitchen. No more trips to the basement to get canned goods.

This is Marilyn and Barry's home, right next door. ....and this finishes the month of June!

Moving Day June 25

Boxes were everywhere packed, ready to be loaded.

The movers arrived and everything was loaded in two hour's time.

These guys were professionals. Even the lawn mower was no problem. We had plenty of room to spare in the truck.

Well, folks, I can't even write a fitting caption for this picture. This was just a very tender moment as Mother and Dad walked hand in hand to begin a new chapter in their lives.

Last Sunday at Houstonia Community Church

Frank Higgins presented Mother and Dad a nice plaque thanking them for all their years of service at the church.

And of course, a nice potluck dinner followed the service. Visiting at the table with Mother and Dad is Donna, Gayle Ryan, and Lorraine Boughton

Lots of good pictures.....and we were all smiling by this time :) !!

Mother and Dad

Nothing like the porch swing, but Kayla wasn't interested in joining Gr Grandpa & Gr Grandma. Their porch swing is being used daily on their deck in DeSoto.