EASTER 2008

Some of the family got together Easter Sunday afternoon at Edith's: Edith, Pat, Beth & Steve, their "kids" Wesley & his fiancee Ashley and Maria & her boyfriend Steven, and Weldon & I.
Ashely & Wesley
Steven & Maria and the back of Steve's head
I didn't get pictures of each of us stuffing our faces but, trust me, we pretty much ate until we couldn't eat any more. Then it was out to the front yard for the Easter egg hunt. Some of the adults took turns hiding the eggs and then the four "kids" looked for them. It was rather chilly outside, but they didn't want to stop. Here are a few pics of the silliness.

Who would be so crude as to hide an egg on a cow pie??
And who would actually be excited about finding it??
Wesley won a prize for finding the most eggs. See his chocolate bar?
So, that's Easter in an eggshell. I will be adding to the blog in the next few days (really!!) so you can read about Marshall's spring break and see the quilt I am working on. I know you're all trembling with anticipation.
Love you :-)

Ahhh - *S*P*R*I*N*G*
Last year about this time I was viewing plum and cherry blossoms in Japan (not to mention the other beautiful flowers growing everywhere we went).

The other day I was surprised to see the beautiful blooms below, right on the edge of our yard. Weldon tells me they're peach blossoms.

What an amazing thing, spring!!

SIX-WORD MEMOIRS

Finally, something more addicting than spider solitaire. My friend Carolyn sent me an article about writing your memoirs in only 6 words. I followed the article to the original site: http://www.smithmag.net/ and began reading. This is what they say about themselves:

SMITH Magazine is a home for storytelling, with a focus on personal narrative. Whether a professional or unpublished writer, we believe everyone has a story, and everyone should have a place to tell it.

If you love reading and writing, I think you will enjoy the site. Their book, Not Quite What I Was Planning, was published this month and ... I gotta get a copy :-) But, back to the memoirs. I've been thinking, remembering, and revising (I told you, it's addictive!), and here are three that I've come up with so far:

• I Thought I Was Perfect. Wrong.
• Haitian Happiness; Corporate Crap; Cow Pies
• Plenty of Smiles for the Miles

What do you think? Can you fit your life into six words??

NEWS FLASH - - - EDITH KEIGER IS 81

Today is Edith's 81st birthday and, in her honor, Pat made a delicious breakfast for those of us who could be there.
Here are, from left to right, her brother Joe, her brother Jimmy and his wife Polly, her brother George, and Edith. Her sister Pearl wasn't able to join us.
Here you can see Edith (she was happy, honest!!) with two of her children: Pat and Weldon. Her youngest, Beth, had to teach, so she missed the festivities.
Edith received a few calls before we got there, a few while we there, and I'm sure she will be getting calls from well-wishers all day long. Happy Birthday, Edith, and many more!!! We'll meet again next year for another great breakfast. Hope you can join us!

It WAS a very Merry Christmas :-)

The family gathered at Mom Edith's on Christmas morning for brunch (always yummy!!) and the opening of presents after that.
The pictures will pretty much speak for themselves.
Finally, a picture of the lighted tree.
We just took it down last week!

Weldon's younger sister Beth and her husband Steve

Weldon's older sister Pat

Pat always gives fabulous books to everyone,
and here is Weldon checking out one she gave him

Weldon's niece Maria and his mom Edith

Weldon's nephew Wesley and Wesley's fiance Ashley

This is Weldon's middle daughter Jennifer.
Her husband Scott had to work .

Our gift to the cows? We milked them morning and evening :-)
You can see it was a beautiful day!

Weldon's youngest daughter Melinda and her husband Joseph live in New York, so they couldn't join us. We were able to get together with Weldon's oldest daughter Kathryn and her daughter Ashley a few days after Christmas.
Unfortunately, Kathryn's husband David was at work.

My family is scattered far and wide, so we weren't able to celebrate together. However, the week after Christmas, my grandson Marshall came up to spend a few days. We had lots of fun together

The highlight for Marshall was driving the Bobcat. I couldn't believe it when I saw Weldon coming down the road on the tractor and ... who could that be
driving the Bobcat?? Sure enough! Marshall -

Weldon put him to work splitting wood

On his last day, just before loading the car and heading back to Charlotte, he just had to take the Bobcat out for one last spin.
Look at that smile!!
When I took him home, I was able to spend a few hours with Anna (my older daughter and Marshall's mom). We exchanged gifts and went out to eat.
My younger daughter Katie is back in Miami,
so one of these cold weekends maybe I'll hop on a plane to go see her.
And that's our Christmas in a blog nutshell.
Happy 2008 to all. Now I have to get to the barn!!!!

SNOW DAY!!
We had a dusting of snow starting about 4:30 this morning. I know, because that's when I got up to let Molly (Weldon's dog) out. At 6:00, when I let Jasmine (my dog) out, it was coming down in big pretty flakes. We had to milk the cows, of course, but it's an official snow day - many schools are closed and I've done as little as possible all day long. I should have watched a movie instead of playing around on this silly computer :-/

OH CHRISTMAS TREE

Time flies, doesn't it? Seems like just 12 months ago we were out hunting for the perfect Christmas tree :-) You remember what we found, don't you? Our Charlie Brown tree, the most adorable tree ever.

Actually, most of you called it pathetic, and your votes in WBFJ's contest "That Christmas Tree Thing" made us the winner of a beautiful 7-and-a-half-foot Christmas tree from Michael W. Smith, along with a copy of his new Christmas cd, "It's a Wonderful Christmas."

On Thursday, December 6, Darren, Tami, and Verne (the hosts of WBFJ's Morning Show) delivered the tree and the fun began. After putting the new Christmas cd in the player, Darren and Verne got the tree out of the box and then the three sections were easily put together. We started "fluffing" the branches, but ... hmmmm. One small problem: the lights on five limbs didn't work! We wiggled and jiggled wires, plugged and unplugged cords, and even read the directions. About an hour later we decided it was time for refreshments! When we spoke on the air on the day the winner of the contest was announced, Tami told me that she had never had raw milk before. So - Christmas goodies and fresh milk it was!

And back to the tree.... After more attempts to get the lights burning on those 5 branches , Weldon even replacing fuses , there was nothing to be done except call customer service. Their solution? They would send us a new string of lights which we would receive in 7 to 10 days, and we would have to take off the offending lights and replace them with the new string. Well, that was rather discouraging, but that's the way the Christmas cookie crumbles.

The Morning Show had also brought along some decorations: The Twelve Days of Christmas and a Spode spoon picturing a tree and the year 2007. For the sake of photo ops, we each hung an ornament and then called it a day.

The next day, I turned the tree so the offending branches were toward the window and finished fluffing the tree. I sent an email to the Morning Show hosts thanking them for all they had done and for the wonderful, fun time we had had together. (They really are a great bunch. Verne had come to deliver the tree, in spite of the fact that he was on vacation!!) Tami insisted that she would come and get the tree and return it to Home Depot and bring us back a new tree. Could she actually do that? You see, Michael W. Smith (in Nashville) had ordered the tree through a company that supplied and shipped the tree through homedepot.com. There was a big flyer in the box that said the tree could not be returned to Home Depot. Well, go for it, Tami!

And go for it, she did! After explaining the whole thing to Home Depot, they gave her a new tree, she delivered it Sunday night, and we set it up to make sure all the lights worked (they did). KUDOS to Home Depot and more thanks to Tami and WBFJ.

I finally got it all fluffed and decorated, and the tree is beautiful!!

See the "maid-a-milking" in the lower left and the spoon in the upper right corner? I'll post another picture of the tree in a day or two so you can see all the lights.

Thank you, Darren, Tami, and Verne. Thank you WBFJ 89.3fm. Thank you, Michael W. Smith. Thank you, Home Depot! Thank you, all you who voted. Thank you, God, for Christmas :-)

THE PROMISE
(A ONE-ACT PLAY)

SETTING: Friday morning in the milk parlor,
following a crap-fest of Fear Factoresque proportions.

WELDON: One day I will take you away from all this, babe.
CINDY: Yes, but will you be able to afford the coffin?

THE END

PILOT MOUNTAIN

After breakfast this morning, Weldon and I were playing with our cameras, taking some pictures outside to compare the "normal" and "vivid" (or "rich" on my camera) settings. Suddenly he said, "Let's go for a drive and see some real colors." So off we went, still in our crap-splattered barn clothes. (I'm not kidding.)
We started with a few pictures on the farm

and then headed towards Pinnacle. We decided we should go up the Pilot Mountain.

Let me tell you, with the temp in the low 50s and the wind blowing, it was MIGHTY COLD up there.

Weldon said we were a day late, because it rained last night and the wind was whipping and half the leaves were on the ground. But the colors were beautiful and definitely worth a little discomfort. Arizona and Florida family and friends, eat your heart out :-)

It's almost like being in Japan - everywhere you look is a picture!

Then back to the farm, all dressed up in God's wrapping paper.