Gratitude

Pres. Monson reminded us that true and lasting happiness comes through expressing gratitude to our Heavenly Father for our many blessings and to those around us for all that they bring into our lives.  I realize that I often neglect to say how much I appreciate my family and my many blessings.  I feel like Moroni who said he couldn't write even 'an hundredth part' of what he knew and I feel my list of blessings is so long that I wonder if I am even worthy of all that I have been given. 

My immediate and extended family are such a joy,  my home is safe and comfortable, my children are striving to make good choices, my friends are dear to me.  Heavenly Father has blessed me with all that I need and more.  Does my life reflect His goodness?  I want to express my love and thanks to each you for being a blessing in my life.  Thank you for loving, caring, working, and sharing yourselves with me. 

I am most grateful for my Savior, Jesus Christ.  His atonement is infinite and the only gate to return to our loving Heavenly Father. He teaches me to be humble in trials and strengthens me daily.  Pure love flows from him in the form of kind things you do and say.  He expects me to share the same with you.  So in meager words again, Thank You, Thank You, Thank You. 

Grandma Goes West

I spent the last week at Melissa's in Utah babysitting for Macey and Henry.  Melissa got to go to Australia with Thomas for his work.  I really had fun with my grand kids which I don't get to do very often.  Macey is a very busy girl, but give her dress-up clothes and crayons and you can entertain her for hours.  Henry is an easy child that will eat, sleep, and play quite contently without much effort on my part. 

We played in the leaves, drew with sidewalk chalk, and visited with Sarah every day.  Lachelle and Ben brought their boys down to play on Thursday also.  The boys really liked riding the little car and drawing as much as Macey.  Thanks to Ben and Lachelle we all got to go for a swim in the hotel pool. 


What a contagious smile!

  We spent as much time outside as possible because rain was in the forecast for Monday and snow for Tuesday.  We enjoyed that pile of leaves more than once.





Henry played shy for Sarah's roommates.



I taught Henry a new skill cherished by our family, dunking graham crackers in milk.  

I took the kids up to Highland to see our family friend Tara.  She has quite a menagerie of animals... goats, lamas, chickens, bunnies, dogs!  Henry spent a long time at the door watching and 'talking' to the dogs in the backyard.  When we went to the barn, the lama spent a long time looking at Henry.  I wish I had had another pair of hands to take pictures out there.

 I think it was worth all the work of babysitting just to spend time with these precious grand kids of mine. 

Tricks and Treats

Halloween is something that my kids never outgrow.  Each year Joel says, "Aren't you too old for that?" and the reply is always a resounding, "NO!"  We do enjoy the dressing up and making goodies along with decorating pumpkins.  We don't even mind a few tricks in the process.  Karina and her friends Katana and Meagan made cupcakes for the cake walk game at church.  Adam dressed as a cow for Jesse's(Adam's girlfriend) cowgirl.  He helped give pony rides at Jesse's Trunk or Treat.


Karina's pumpkin was a monster in the forest, and our painted faces guarded the doorstep.



Cow boy?



Karina and Katana were hobos with a shopping cart and sign that read, "Will Trick 4 Treats."

This was our Halloween morning surprise and we decided to leave it for decorations.

Fall Festivals

We went to Glendale Crossing Days to enjoy their fall festival and realized that it was a very big event.  This usually very small town (smaller than Hope) was covered on all sides with booths and vendors.  We like to wander around these flee market style events.  Occasionally we even buy something... like kettle corn.  Grandpa Jenkins and Grandma Jane came to join us for the marathon of crafts.  There were over 500 booths, and there were over twenty thousand visitors.  We walked and talked until we dropped.  No real bargains but beautiful weather and great company.

This sign is on the edge of town about a 1/4 of a mile form the train track and a restaurant called the Whistle Stop Cafe.  The booths extended past this sign for another 1/4 mile.  Lots of exercise!


Tyler joined us and Adam deserted us for part of the day.
Beth wandered around with her 'granny' and aunts who were visiting.



 The Amish community that is just south a few miles brought baskets and quilts.  It was beautiful handiwork.

The old Massey Ferguson tractor ran the ice cream churn, it was a 5 gallon churn! 

Fall festivals have a way of bringing back simple pleasures of good food and family fun.

Hunter or Conservationist?

Grandpa Shoaf is definitely both.  Paul cares about animals of all kinds.  For as long as we can remember, Paul has hunted everything from squirrels to deer.  He has also rescued everything from skunks, quail, pheasant,  foxes, to deer.  Last year after the floods of spring, Grandpa brought a fawn home that had been separated from its mother.  He bottle fed it and raised for a few months.  It finally jumped the enclosure and took off to freedom.

 A couple of weeks ago, someone called Grandpa Shoaf for another rescue.  A young deer tried to jump a barbed wire fence and got its hind leg tangled in the wire.  It was found dangling and just barely holding itself up by its front legs.  Grandpa and Grandma Shoaf went to free it.  Grandpa had to try to release the wire while Grandma got the leg loose.  It couldn't stand so they brought it home and wrapped the leg and are keeping it in the barn until it can walk.  Grandpa said it was Grandma's 'first deer' (her first catch) and Grandma Shoaf just rolled her eyes.   Grandpa won't let it out until hunting season is over to give it a fair chance at recovery.

 Diane (Beth's mom) couldn't wait to see it and we were surprised it let us touch it.

The deer was old enough to no longer have spots but it was still every young.

We have learned a lot about caring for animals from Grandpa Shoaf and we have lots of fond memories of seeing and enjoying wild animals close up.

A true outdoorsman will always be the first to be a real conservationist.

Apple Cider

Beth and Tyler wanted to make apple cider at Grandpa Shoaf's house like we used to when the kids were little.  Joel and I and our kids got to go help.  Diane (Beth's mom) and Beth picked apple and we used up all the apples Grandpa Shoaf had.  We knew it had been a dry year, but we didn't know how dry until we started pressing.  We started with about 5 1/2 bushels of apple and only got 5 1/2 gallons of juice.  Paul said he had never seen so much pulp and so little cider before.  The apples were really 'dry'.  We weren't discouraged though, we plan to make a day of it again next year.



We had to remove a few unwanted guests.



Grandma Shoaf purchased this press when they were first married for $17, it was old then.



 Cranking the press was the hardest part, harder than it looked.  Everyone took turns to get the job done!



Look at our treasure, liquid gold!



Grandma Jenkins' Geek Squad

We sure take for granted how easily we can stay in touch with e-mail, etc.  We sometimes forget to relay messages to Grandma Jenkins.  She hasn't been online for a few years.  Grandma's Geek Squad came to the rescue on Saturday.  Joel bought a used computer at work for $25 and it runs better than our own.  We happily set it up for her and she is back in business.  Grandma hopes to be back online soon and is excited about doing some genealogy and family history work of her own, an eternal reward for a small investment!

Ready...... Set..... GO!

HOME means Family (Crystal's Dictionary)

We always think about our family members that we can't see regularly, wishing for more time to spend with them.  Our visit to Indiana took us straight HOME. 

Our first stop was to see Grandma Jenkins but some how we forgot to get the camera out.  She had only one surviving tomato plant, it was as big as she was and only had one tomato on the vine.  What a strange year for vegetables.

We visited with Grandma Jane and Grandpa Jenkins.  They showed off all their gardening projects this summer.  Redoing flowerbeds, taking down over-sized trees, and still getting a few fresh vegetables are some of their successes. 

Grandpa Shoaf was a little disappointed with his garden this year, he didn't have the bounty of tomatoes he expected due to the hot and dry conditions.  His pumpkin patch and sunflowers did great though. 

We carted several pumpkins home with us.  Karina wanted the kitten, but it stayed at the farm.








Sorry, no hitch hikers!



A Heritage in Hope

This past weekend was Hope Heritage Days and we made a trip to see family and friends for the occasion.  I was reminded at how special our heritage is.  Hope is a nice little town and we enjoy a great history there.  The town itself has a long history which is much like many other early American towns.  The Civil War, rural farms, religious freedom, and early commerce left their marks on the history of Hope.  Heritage Days brings to remembrance many of these historical contributions.  The Shoafs have been a part of this community for over a hundred years.

Original restored log cabin next to Norman's Funeral Home
is the sight of the Civil War reenactment.



<>

Barb Johnson is a favorite retired teacher
and mentor who now works tirelessly at the
Yellow Trail Museum.



Mrs. Thompson is also a favorite elementary teacher.



Some old, some new, all are cool to look at!



My First Try

I love to read all the posts on my friends' blogs.  I am not good at letter writing so I decided to try blogging...
Who knew an old dog could learn a new trick or two.

Joel and I realized that we never did take advantage of all the things to do in Indiana while we lived there, so we decided to see Kentucky one weekend at a time.  Our trip to Natural Bridge Park was a nice start.

The park is on the east side of Lexington, KY and it was a rather small park with big surprises.  We rode a mile long chair lift up to the top of the 'mountain' to hike over, under, around, and beside the Natural Bridge.  It was a spectacular view.  What a nice day and great company!

Rising above the trees.

What a view!



Natural Bridge is huge.



Who is that in the background?

The bridge is beautiful even from down under.

My little monkeys hanging in the tree...



Back down again.