HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRISTA MARIE!!

Well, I'm back!! 23 years ago today I was in labor with my oldest daughter, although she was born a day later, my labor was 52 hours from start to finish. It started out on Friday with small pains every few hours at home in the company of Uncle Tim and Alan Mittan. Tim wrote down every pain and the time, Alan was to go get James when it got real close. By the time I got to the hospital which was an hour away (and Sat. /Sun. middle of the night) my pains were 3 minutes apart. My little girl was born Oct.21, at 4:23 a.m. Well worth the labor and wait.
Now I decided that if it was a boy, I was going to call him Christopher Alan, and if it was a girl I was going to call her Krista Marie, unless she was born on a Sunday, then Christa Marie, Christ with an A, and Marie, french for Mary. (I was born and raised a Methodist, Southern Baptist, and Roman Catholic. When I was a baby I was baptized all 3 in 1 day, and raised with all 3. Every Sunday I went to all 3 services. Methodist was 1st. with my Grandfather, So. Baptist 2nd. with my Grandmother, and Catholic 3rd. with my other Grandparents. It was a full day.) Well she was born on a Sunday, so she is Christa Marie, and she had a head full of dark brown hair and the prettiest blue eyes, she never cried, she just looked at me when the nurse gave her to me. It was pure love. I knew I loved her from the time I found I was carrying her and I knew she was going to be a girl because I didn't have the morning sickness and tiredness I had with James.
Happy 23rd. Birthday Christa Marie, Mom Loves You.........

Mom's Coming Back to Blog World

Well, my Mom is coming back to blog world. She has her own office set up so she can get to her computer and get online and do what she does. She is going to be very happy about that. Happy Surprise Mom, from Dad, John and Me, Ashley. We worked hard and in secret to get her office done for her. We Love You Mom. Welcome back. And thanks to all of you for your care and calls and visits, goodbye from Ash.

A NEW UPDATE

Well I've been getting calls lately about mom's leg. We have been soooo busy that I haven't had time to blog, sorry to all. Since mom had to stay downstairs, dad moved thier bedroom downstairs, and his office to the upstairs. Well then they liked the bedroom there so remodel time. Now mom and dads bedroom is where the family room use to be with a new master bath, french doors leading out to the back gardens and pool area(where theres now a changing bungalow)and new hot tub and water fall, and of course they have a fireplace and the gardens have one too. The den became the new quilt room and their old bedroom is now the guest room(because it has it's own bathroom) and the old guest room is now dads office. Confusing to those who haven't been here yet, but makes since to those who have. The kitchen also got a new face so mom could get around, and yes she's been cooking.
Now for mom's leg, she was put into a regular cast 2 1/2 weeks ago, and they took it off 2 days ago. Now she's in therapy and not suppose to put any weight on it unless the therapist says to. She has to where her air cast when traveling outside the house, inside she can have it off and elevated to keep the swelling from therapy down. And yes she won the battle about hunting, she can hunt on level ground, from a blind chair that swivels, and she's ready to go. Poor dad,lol. He's soooo right about mom, she is sooooo very tough. Go MOM!! Well I need to go, it's time to play moms new hunting game dad bought her yesterday for her xbox360, cabelas trophy bucks. She has all the cabelas hunting games, most of them on her playstation-2. Bye All.

UPDATE

Well most of you know via e-mail thismorning that they did xrays yesterday and found no other broken bones. They did a MRI and mom has a pulled tendon and muscle, I guess thats why she is having foot cramps in the bottom of her foot and charlie horses in her leg. Her leg is still to swollen to cast it the regular way, but she likes the air cast better, she says when it itches she an have us open it so she can scratch. This is a cool cast, it goes down her whole leg to her toes, you set her foot and leg in and let it slip into place, then velcro it shut then tighten it with velcro straps, then close the air valve and pump it up till she makes a painful face. She's on pain medication and something for swelling. Last week they had her on stuff that made her sleep alot so she wouldn't move around too much. She has to keep the cast on all the time except to shower, but then she's in a wierd looking wheel chair for that, she has to keep her leg up, and as still as possible to keep the bone in place. No surgery for now, their hoping that it will heal the right way and won't have to rebreak it or operate on it. She's awake alot more now, but groggy, and she made dad get her clothes and help her get dressed, she said she can't stand laying or sitting around in her jamas. Dad says the fun now begins, mom is not used to doing nothing!! I'm glad she's doing better, I was so worried. So now we wait, her next apt. is Tues. I hope I answered all your questions. And thanks for all the quilting items, mom was so suprised. ( how did you all know what she likes?) Gma V has a hard time finding things mom likes. And yes both Gma's are here,lol. I'll let you know if there's more news, Ashley

Hi Every One, This is Ashley

I want to say thanks to all who have prayed for my mom, and are still doing so. She still plans on having the 1st surgery, but they may be doing 2 since she and our family were on a hiking trip and she fell and broke her leg 3/4 of a mile in the wilderness. We had hiked in 2 miles for a camping/scouting trip and were on our way out sunday afternoon when it started to thunder and rain, I slipped and she grabbed me and fell down the ravine instead of me and broke her leg real bad and my need surgey to fix it, we'll know more on monday, as her swelling is just starting to go down and the 1st exray showed she broke her bone in half at a slant but they couldn't see the rest of her ankle area to see if she broke anything there. Dad is staying home and taking real good care of her and we are too. He is working from his home office. Dad said she's a real tough lady to walk out the rest of the way to our truck with only him to hold her one side up and she walked the best she could 3/4 of a mile, I am so proud of my mom, that could have been me, but she kept me from the fall, dad had to go down and pull her out, it was 20 yards down is what he said, and that she was lucky that a stick didn't go thru her. I so glad it didn't kill her, I love my mom, you all know that, anyway keep praying for her, I'll post more after her next exray. Thanks for all the phone calls too, dad said. Ashley, John, and Dad...

We Have Finished Moving!!

Thanks to all of you who helped us move in mid June. We decided after Memorial Day to move to our summer home, then we thought why not buy a new place in between Tacoma and Yakima, and sell our Rainier home. So that's what we did. Our new place is a 90 minute drive to Yakima, but close enough that my wonderful husband can still come home at night. The animals were our main problem, so we sold the goats, some ducks and peafowl, but of course we kept the horses. The animals now reside at our summer home and we reside at both our new and summer home since their close to each other, just on different passes. Only a 1 hour drive from one to the other. Our summer home is on the lake but away from other people so our animals won't bother them. Our new home is on 3 acres with plenty of room for the animals for the winter months. Our new home has lots of room, pool and jacuzzi too. And lets not forget good hunting, lol...
The kids and I have been busy unpacking and quilting. We each had 2 new quilts that we started in May and they are all almost finished, so I guess it's off the the fabric shop this weekend!! Well I won't be back on for a while, we have all kinds of Archery Shoot's coming up starting next weekend, and our yearly trip back to New York to see my husbands brothers and their families, of course were taking my mother-in-law too. And congrats to my cousin Trish and her new husband, they have been married since Jan. 07 and she just called last week to say she's 4 months along with #5. Her 1st. husband passed away a few years ago just before the birth of their 4th child, at least he knew it was a son and named him before he passed. Love you Trish!!
Well I must go for now, but I'll be back if I have any wonderful news to share, if not I'll be back later this summer. Love to you all, Sandy...

THANK YOU ALL...

Thanks to all of you for your e-mails and prayers for our family. And sorry to those whom I couldn't get in touch with. We had an unexpected death in our family 2 days after we got home from our Yakima trip for our archery shoot. We stayed in Yakima for a week after the shoot, was home 2 days when we got the call, I e-mailed all whom I had addresses for, but I didn't have everyones, sorry . Things are still kinda crazy here, so I'll be back on after Memorial Day weekend. I have to go do our family graves all over this state before the graveyards get too crowded, and still be back for our weekend trip, so I'll be leaving early tomorrow morning. Again thank you all for your loving support. Sandy.

Mother's, Pelican's, Archery Shoots, Deer & Elk...

Well my mom has surgery coming up soon. My mother-in-law just completed her kimo. My dad is doing well, even though he forgot to take his med's 2 days this week. Thanks to ALL for your prayers and help this past 2 weeks. I Love You All.
Pelicans- well the pelicans follow the salmon runs, and today we took pictures of the pelicans flying over our home just above the power lines. I thought for a moment they were going to land in my pond and eat my goldfish,lol.
This weekend is the 3-D Archery Shoot and we're ALL so ready for it. Last week my Husband and I put on our new Cobra sights and sighted them in. So off to the Yakima Valley we go!!
My Husband and I took a day trip up the Ewe Neck and took a walk looking for sheds, we stalked up on a herd of deer, does and fawns. So we turned a different way a walked up on 4 cow elk who started barking at us, we realized that they were calving so we left the area as quietly and quickly as possible. There was a baby calf, new born, maybe a few days old, lying in the brush off the trail, it was so cute!! If you have never heard an elk bark, well your missing something, or a cow elk mew, or a bull elk bugle, so awsome!! I Love Nature, we have an Awesome God!! Do you know the song "Our God is an Awesome God"?? Well I need to get my shower and head for bed before my hubby falls asleep,lol. B4N Sandy...

A Wonderful Weekend!!/But bad news...

First the wonderful part.Well we had a visitor this weekend. We brought my mother-in-law over for the weekend. While she was here my wonderful loving husband put down new floors. We put in hard wood floors everwhere except the family room and bedrooms. It looks so good. It took all weekend, but was worth it.
I took my convertible out of storage and put her on the road again!! So I took my mother-in-law home today , then went to see my mom. Now the bad part. My mom has a spinal decease that eats away at your spine till your in a wheel chair, it's crippling, so my crazy study group, she needs your prayers really bad right now. I took her last week for the xrays and punctures(those help with the pain), and found out she needs to have 2 surgeries at the same time. First their going to cut her nerve endings and then their going to fuse her spine, and put in blocks for pain relief. The down side they told me was their not sure if she'll walk after her surgery, she may need a wheel chair for the rest of her life, and that's if she lives thru the surgery. As you all know she is really overwieght.
Ok, now that's out of the way, how is everyone? Enjoying the wonderful weather? I am. I love the smell of the blooms in my yard, especially sweet woodruft. It smells so good with the blooming lilac's. Ops, gotta go, my phones ringing, hubby's calling. B4N Sandy..

April Showers and April Flowers!!

Well April has had it's up's and down's as far as the weather is concerned. Easter weekend it was warm and sunny, this past weekend it rained, poured and rained some more.
On a sunny note, all of my fruit trees are in bloom and doing well. My maple tree has leaves on it, and my other trees are getting leaves .
We went for a ride on Sunday to Tree Phones, the snow there was 2 feet deep, it will be at least a few more weeks before we will be able to get to Eagle Nest, but the drive up was without snow or mud.
I got new arrows and went out to sight them in, I hit a heart shot on my 1st. fifty yard shot!! My husband looked at me and let out a huge woohoo,lol. I Love that Man!! It's so awesome to have a husband who roots for you, and celebrates your achievements!!
I read a book this week while the weather was making things grow, it's called "Waiting for Summer's Return", by Kim Vogel Sawyer, it was a lot like "Love Comes Softly", by Janette Oke. Although it wasn't exactly the same, there we're some differences. A good read though.
The kids and I watched the movie of "Love Comes Softly" and "Loves Enduring Promise" last week. They enjoyed them and so did I.
Well I must go, my hubby should be home soon, and I'm baking cookies so he'll have warm cookies and ice cold milk before his shower,lol..B4N Sandy...

SPRING,SPRING,SPRING!!

Oh how I love the Spring. Flower's bloom, grass is green, and the smell... We had to mow our yard, which is 1 acre huge. We live on 3 acres, the other 2 acres is pasture for horses. This past week we had 70 degree weather. We put in a stone path using my troy tillar thru my flower garden. It winds thru my flowers from one side to another, both ends have a trellis with a gate. Both gates lead to a different area of my yard, form a side yard to a back yard. The far back yard has a target range for archery. The boat and 5th. wheel are both parked in a garage in the general area. We have rabbits running around, pea fowl, pheasants also, and a new litter of kittens in the barn.
Easter weekend was spent with my sister-in-law and her family in the Yakima Valley. Easter Sunday it was clear and 78. We had a bbq and skeet shoot while watching the ducks that we had raised and turned loose last year. One of our mother ducks had 13 ducklings, and we had 2 fathers and 5 mothers, so that got carried away and we had to set them loose at my sister-in-laws place along the river last summer. It was nice to see them again and hand feed them.
It's nice being home and we hope that this next weekend we can sit back and relax, not be on the road so much. We were invited to go salmon fishing on the 28th of April, but were not sure about going. Finding a place to park a 28 foot 5th. wheel is not a lot of fun when you are going to a small camp ground along the Columbia River.
Well my baby boy is due this Wed. the 11th. I can't wait. Well my Love is calling, it's time for bed, so I must go, I have another busy day tomorrow. B4N Sandy...

Merry Christmas,Happy Birthday and Happy Mother's Day!!

Well we are ALL back home. The Yakima/Naches River was down, not on the highway. The weather was warm, a little rain on Saturday. Perfect on Sunday. We got all our Mother's things done for them, had a wonderful dinner with my Father and Step Mother. A wonderful weekend altogether.
My Mother in Law has cancer, she been battling for 4 years now. So she missed Christmas with all the family. She decided to celebrate Christmas this past weekend. Everyone got something. I got a TroyBilt mini rototillar, it's a lot like a Mantis, but a little bigger, and better. She said it was my Christmas, Birthday and Mother's Day gift. Now I can till myself, I don't have to wait for a weekend for my Husband to do it. And it's all electric, no gas, no pulling. Just plug it in and off I go. It works wonders!
I went into my safety deposit and got some photo's out on Monday, I'm going thru them all and will post some on a photo blog.
Well my Husband is saying it's bedtime, so I must go. B4N Sandy...

Off To The Wonderful World of Mother's!!

Well it's off to Yakivegas for the whole weekend. Our Mother's are requesting our presence. What fun we will have,LOL.. Well anyway I hope the river is down. My Mom said her tulips are up, and my Mother-in law said her crocus and tulips are up. Both have new rose bushes to be planted. Then my Dad and Step Mom are BBQing for my birthday ( a little late) sounds like good eats. Today was 73 and sunny!! I Love this weather. My rose bushes have leaves, as do my lilacs, and fruit tree's. We'll have plenty for jelly, canning and eating!! Everything is growing so fast. It has been warm and has rained a lot this week. Mr. Sun has come just in time for the weekend. I'll be back home Monday afternoon.
To who wanted to know about the song Seventy Times Seven, yes I have it, and a few other's by White Heart.
To who wanted to know my bow poundage, it's 46. and my arrows are Easton Epics 500's. I hope that helps.
Well I must go it's bed time. B4N Sandy...

What A Weekend!!

Well, as we passed thru Yakima this past weekend, we encountered water over the highway, you see they have been under flood warnings for quite a while. The river that was even with the highway was now on the highway in more places than one.
The Archery Shoot was 7 miles past White Swan, up near Fort Simcoe State Park, where my GREAT Grandfather was born. It was awesome to walk where ancestors walked in the 1800's and early 1900's. I walked there as I was growing up with my Grandfather on several occassions and fished in the Agency River with my Grandmother.
The Shoot was just before the park, on private property, each section has 3-D targets of vast and various kinds of animals, even a graped ape. Section 1 had 15 targets, as did section 3, section 2 had 10 targets, 40 in all. There are 2 days to a 3D archery shoot. That means you shoot 80 targets in a weekend. You keep a score card that they give you at registration on both days. At the end of the weekend when you are finished, you turn in your score cards for both days, but they have to be in by 2:30 P.M. on Sunday to get on the Trophy Board.
My husband came in 4th in the mens Hunter class, I came in 5th. in the womens Hunter class. There are 4 classes, hunter, freestyle,tradional and pro.
Ashley came in at 3rd. place in the Young Ladies Youth Hunter class, and John came in 2nd. in the Young Men's Youth Hunter Class. They have cub, Jr., Youth and Adult. Congrat's to Ashley and John, good job. The difference betweens the groups is the yardage stakes, you shoot at your stake by color that goes with your group, adult stakes are orange, youth is white, and so on. The adult stakes are farthest from the target and the cubs are closest. There was a total of 400 people at this shoot.
The targets are set up 45-55 yard's from each other for safety, you walk from target to target till finished, so you could walk 3 miles or more per day. They have 15 set up on a rockey hillside in the 7 foot sagebrush&down thru the creek, 10 set up in the scrub oak trees and 15 out in the open 2 foot sage. And yes we saw 1 rattlesnake. Now we are safely home and ready for bed. We have another shoot on April 14 & 15, again May 5 & 6. Then starts the summer shoots. Well I can see my hubby is ready for bed. B4N Sandy...

Tossing Arrows

Well I've been out all week shooting my bow at my "rut buck" target. I can hit a heart shot at 20, 30, and 40 yards, and a double lung at 50 yards. I can also shoot a heart shot at 50 yards, but better at double lunging it. The kids have been out practicing too, but not as much. So tomorrow starts the big weekend, off to the Yakima Valley we go. Get out of the big city for a while. We don't live in the downtown metro area, we live out in the country, but the driving can get crazy anyway. The shoot last's all weekend, with a BBQ all thru out the day, with prizes and fun for everyone. So off I go with my trusty Parker Bow, Quiver, and Hip Quiver full of arrows, my GPS(for fun), my rangefinder, because 1st. day you guess, 2nd. day you can range, my MP-3 for tunes, and back pack for snackage. So wish me well . I'll be home Monday...B4N Sandy...

DR. JEKYLL, MR. CHRISTIAN, By White Heart

You wear a sunday suit and tie everybody thinks your such a guy/ Driving up the american dream, got the whole world on a golden string/You got the glow, a shining face, respectable man with holy taste, you got that family pew reserved, when the hymns are sung you voice is heard/
Then late one night you got your plan, you'd be religious on demand/ Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Christian, it's a mask you wear to hide, you got a notion, Gods a potion, and works most every time, Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Christian/ Experimented with your eyes just to get a bigger piece of pie, I really think you do believe, yet you use religion to deceive/So when it's time for you know who/ you feel the change come over you/Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Christian, it's a mask you wear to hide, you got a notion, Gods a potion, and it works most every time, Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Christian/ What is faith, what is a lie, don't you know that, can't you see that, God is not your alibi/ Now when the change comes over you, there's almost nothing you can do/ Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Christian, it's a mask you wear to hide, you got a notion, God's a potion, and it works most every time, Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Christian/ What is faith, what is a lie, don't you know that, can't you see that, God is not your alibi/ Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Christian, it's a mask you wear to hide, you got a notion, God's a potion, and it works most every time/ God is not your alibi, is not your alibi, God is not your alibi, God is not your alibi.

Busy Weekend

Well what a busy weekend that was. I needed today just to rest. But I didn't get to do that. My husband had me going like the energizer bunny,lol. He fixed me breakfast(waffle's), then we went out and shot our bows for an hour, then went to town shopping for my puppy, then to lunch. After lunch we took the kids and my puppy for a drive thru the mountains of Tampico. When we got back my hubby and kids made me a real nice dinner. We had salmon, shrimp scampi and pasta with a white sauce and broccoli, and of course birthday cake. Sunday we went for a drive up thru the mountains of Rimrock, we saw elk, deer, mountain sheep, and a bobcat. The snow was almost all gone, so we we're able to get out and take a small hike looking for sheds. We got home around 6 P.M. and had papa murhpy's for dinner, and watched movies till 2 A.M. My hubby had Monday off and so did the kids. Monday everyone went to town, the guy's got a hair cut, while us girls went shopping. We then had lunch, went home, shot our bows, played with the puppy, worked on the yard, had dinner, watched a movie. And here I am.
So to whom asked about my birthday--it was great, thank you...
And to whom asked about my kids--James is 23, Christa is 22, Tiffany is 21, Melissa is 19 and Ashley is 17, John is 14. And yes kids are a blessing, thank you...
Well I must go, hubby says the next movie is ready to go. B4N Sandy.

My Birthday!

Well it's the eve of my birthday. The cake is ready. It's supposed to be around 70 degree's tomorrow. The whole day has been planned out by my hubby. It's going to be a busy day. My parent's will be in and out, and my mother in law too.( My father in law passed years ago.) With good food, good cake, and good company, who could complain,lol.
When I was out today in 69 degree sunshine, I saw that not only are my roses and hycynthia's up but so are my foxglove, lupine, hollyhock, peonies and honeysuckle!! Yes, it's spring, and the irrigation ditches have water in them today! Ahh, life is good in the pacific northwest! That means more warm days and more time for the outdoors, more target shooting, getting better for the next archery shoot.
Well I must be on my way to bed, hubby say's it's time. We watched movies all evening and we're both tired. B4N Sandy.

Spring Has Sprung!!

Well it's March 12th. Just 5 more day's till my birthday. My husband already got my gift for me. Last year he bought me a Parker Compound Bow. This year he bought me a Bushnell Rangefinder, lol, I missed a doe because I didn't know the yardage, I also missed a cow elk, but that was because she wasn't broad side. Hunter rule, if you don't have a good kill shot, don't shoot. A wounded animal is a bad thing.
Well spring has sprung in Yakima, flood warnings have been issued for both side's of the Cascades. Today it was 69 degree's and sunny. All my bulbs I planted last year are coming up. My hycyinths and tulips are up 3 inches!! My fruit trees have buds on them as do all of my rose bushes!! I'm so happy spring is here.
We had our first Archery Shoot last weekend, we all did well, of course my husband won, but I came in 4th. Our next shoot is March 24th and 25th. I hope I do better this time.
Well I have a big day tomorrow, we're off to the Tri-Cities and back, so I must get some sleep. B4N, Sandy.