Foundation for the new house

Men came today to pour footings for the new house.


On Saturday we used spray paint to mark where the trenches for the footings need to be.

The runners will be every 8 1/2 feet. You can just make out the orange lines.


Joe used his truck and trailer to pick up a small trackhoe that he rented locally. He unloaded it.





Then he began to dig the trenches. They needed to be at least 6 inches deep.


Daniel helped, too.

The rebar was put into each trench. Then filled with concrete.

The finished product.

Hot dogs & S'mores

The last night everyone was here for Thanksgiving, we had a bonfire and coookout in the backyard.

Tyler borrowed his Granddaddy's flashlight. He walked over to an area beside the house where he had been before.

When he came back with the flashlight we asked him what he had needed the flashlight for. He said that was where he was hunting deer and he wanted to see if there were any spiders or snakes . He said there weren't any so he went back and started shooting deer.

Stephen had a better idea than that. He gave Tyler one of his headlamps. And they went off to check things out.

Then it was Emily's turn walk out into the dark with the headlamp.

We had fun!

Two Special 3-year olds

Tyler and Emily slept in Grandmother's and Granddaddy's bedroom during Thanksgiving. Mike's mother had gotten toddler cots from Sam's and sent them to my house to be used by the little ones. They loved them. Tyler said he was on a camp out. You can see how soundly they were sleeping. Every morning they would wake up and start whispering to each other. Tyler would ask Emily what she wanted to do today. Then they would start naming. These are some of the things they named.

Raking leaves was always the first thing named.


Second was play games - Memory Match or Candyland.


Then it was ride the Mule and 4-wheeler.



They enjoyed everything they got to do.

Their early morning conversations would start with whispering but would gradually get louder to full-out giggling. Then they would look to see if Grandmother was still in the bed and would join me there. The things you can learn from two 3-year olds early in the morning.

Thankful Thanksgiving

There were many things to be thankful for this year. All of the children were home for the holiday. They are well and we had a wonderful time being together.

Uncle Robert, Aunt Peggy, Kelly and husband, Eric came for lunch on Thursday. Afterwards we went to the new farm.

We missed Uncle Charles and Aunt Judy. They had planned to come but got sick.

We had family pictures made. It was not a pleasant experience at Wal Mart and the pictures are not good, but they are pictures of us.

Tyler, Carter and Emily are so cute and so much fun.

We will always remember

Allen and his children came on Saturday as we remembered. Sue will always be missed but she gave us wonderful Godly people to carry on in this world.
Allen, Bryan, Kerri and husband Stephen, Chris, Jill and husband Kyle.



Cousins Bryan, Jill and Heather.

Every time the family comes to eat with me, I cook something different. I'm trying to find some of their favorites. Chris has to have chicken, Bryan loves Monkey bread and Kyle wants ketchup with fried foods.

Chris was so kind to play tractors with Tyler.

What wonderful people! Your mother would be proud.

Happy Birthday, Daniel!

Daniel was born 32 years ago today at 5:18 AM weighing 5lbs 10 oz., 19 inches long.

He loved playing football in high school - #86.

And he was always so smart; asking so many questions and thinking about how something might could be done differently.

Now he has a beautiful wife, Cornelia

and two precious little boys - Tyler Bryant

and Carter Shaw

and a family that loves him very much!

We're proud of you, Daniel!

Happy Birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

New Shop

The new shop was begun last Monday. The contractor brought in a small track hoe and dug the footings.
The next day the cement truck came and poured the footings. The blocks were already on-site.

The blocks were being laid for the next two days.

The blocks were left off the upper end so that the dump truck could bring the fill dirt.

They brought 9 loads of dirt from our gravel pit then 2 loads of sand to top it off. Joe used his tractor and grader to smooth it out.

It's raining at this time and it's still deer season. We don't know when they'll pour the concrete.

The 4-wheeler's home

The mechanic fixed the 4-wheeler this week. We picked it up on Friday .

It had a cracked air intake manifold.

Joe used his daddy's ramps to get it on and off the truck

It was fun to be able to ride it through the woods and check the deer feeders.

We saw scrapes and pawed places.

The deer are eating lots of corn. We get lots of pictures of them and also pictures of coons and squirrels.

Another week of working

Joe and I continue to work on our new farm.

This past week we began to clean off the other side of the pond. Joe has some of the neatest tools - the Kubota with the grappler, the Ford with the heavy duty John Deere bushhog and his daddy's chain saw with the professionally sharpened chain.

The first picture in each set was taken on Tuesday and the next was taken on Sunday.

We got alot done. And we love the way it's looking. We're saving the trees with the prettiest leaf color. Did I mention I love autumn leaves?

Sticker

Did everyone get their sticker today?

Autumn Colors

Autumn is one of my favorite times of the year. I love the color of the leaves. A couple of years ago Heather took me hiking at Devil's Den. The leaves were at their peak and the views were amazing.

Yesterday Heather and Stephen went again - without me. But that's OK.

I'm sure the leaves in Delaware where Jill and Kyle are must be gorgeous, too.