Well this morning I got into the Honda Accord and the transmission went out.  I am actually thankful it went out at home instead of driving it somewhere or stalled out somewhere else.  It is no fun though because we don't currently have a car to drive except for grandmas old station wagon.  It is pretty insane but we took the cars to the shop today and maybe they will get some cars fixed to be able to drive again.  Jeff has some training coming up soon so we will have to do without him being around for a while.  Hopefully things will go smoothly around here as much as possible.  I'm glad he has a good job for about a month.

Well it's Sunday September 22, 2013 and I went to church with Jeff and Heather.  Sim Robinson gave an excellent talk, a returned missionary that went to the Salt Lake City, Utah mission.  His talk was really good and you could see the light that surrounded him and the goodness of his life and the sincerity of his words and how he loves the Savior and some of his mission experiences.  I took a short nap and I'm glad I made dinner Saturday evening so I didn't have to prepare dinner it was already done.  Jeff and I went on a short drive to Clarkston Covered Bridge, a bridge that was built in the early 1900's and has some boardwalks and scenic views around some water.  It was nice to be able to walk around and enjoy the sights and smells of the outdoors.  I love the Fall it's one of my favorite times of the year.

I had a prompting to start another blog and call it Stop Smoking so I just finished writing some of it a while ago.  I hope it helps someone that has a desire to quit smoking.  We went to church today and it was good to see Sim Robinson back home from his mission from Salt Lake City Utah.  Lauren was recently called as the ward mission assistant to help the sister missionaries in our ward. Jeff is still unemployed so that always makes me nervous.  He does have some schools coming soon so that should be good.  I don't have to go to work until 2:00 for the next three days so that will give me some time to get caught up on housework and stuff like that.  Our house still is unfinished and it's kind of hard to get Jeff motivated to finish it. Jeff and his mom like to go visit Jerry on Sundays so that is where they are right now.  I miss being so far away from my family it's painful. It's especially hard when financial problems and stuff like that happen to us.  I enjoy our home though and hope to get it cleaned up a lot this week.

Well today turned out a little crazy.  Jeff is working for my boss picking up some stuff he bought with his dad.  One of phones was cut off recently so Jeff couldn't get a hold of me.  Lauren registered late but also when she registered she didn't notice that one of the classes was at a High School in Hayden (pretty far from here).  I told her she needed to drop that class and get another one, so today we stopped by the college to talk to someone and she said the add/drop period had past so we needed to go talk to the Dean of the College to get permission to change it.  I went upstars with Lauren and we discussed the issues and she said she would try to get her another English class and to call her later today to see if it worked out.  I then had Lauren drop me off at work and she drove away, I asked her to remember to pick up the kids this afternoon after school. Well Pete, or my boss Dr. Dube said he was trying to reach me because he didn't need me to work this morning and he wanted me to help Jeff and his dad load the supplies in the truck but our phone was not on so I misssed the call.  I walked down to the Hanceville Public Library near the Dentist Office and got on Facebook to try to reach my daughter, but I think she said she wanted to go back home and go to bed, so I don't think I will be getting a hold of her.  I left her a message anyway.  Kind of a crazy morning! I'm kind of stranded here at the Library until about 2 p.m. until I need to work again.  He said he could use me at 2 p.m. Lauren has missed her first week at college because she registered late and tonight she has her Biology class at 5 p.m. so I'm  not really sure how everything is going to work this afternoon about rides and stuff.  One of our cars has been in the shop for over a month now because the first mechanic couldn't figure it out, so we ended up taking it to another shop and the computer needs to be worked on I guess.  It may be a little while before we get to use that car again.  The other crazy thing is that our kids are going to two different schools.  Trey wanted to go to the Cullman Middle School and Heather is going to Good Hope High School.  It's crazy getting everyone to seminary and to school on time.  Lauren was teased badly at Good Hope and Trey tried it there but said he hated it.  It would be so much easier to ride the school bus and get to the nearest school.  Cullman Middle School does have a better school system and more money.  Each of the kids have their very own laptop to carry around school and to bring home.  He is happier and has lots of friends at the school.  It also cost money for an out of district fee.  Alabama is starting the school voucher program so Heather is thinking about going to a private school in Cullman.  A very expensive private school that she can go to for free I guess with a school voucher.  I'm not sure on all the details and if she is able to do this or not yet. Heather is a good student and enjoys school and is more outgoing than Lauren and Trey and she is going to run cross-country and track again this year!

It was pouring down rain again today.  I love the rain though the only thing that was bad was I found a leak in one of the bedrooms with the skylight window so Jeff will have to get on the roof again and put more black tar around it to stop the leak and it's a very steep roof so I'm not too excited about that.  Also Jeff was looking at contracting jobs overseas since he has been unemployed and may think of taking one of them but I'm not sure right now.  I have been off work for two days because the dentist didn't have many appointments and only needed one assistant so I'm the one he usually lets go if it's not busy.  I'm glad to get things done around the house but will miss the money of course.  We helped Lauren get enrolled at Wallace State College in Hanceville, Alabama.  She will start next week.  The other kids are busy at school and early morning seminary.  

It has been raining a lot this summer in Alabama so I thought this background was appropriate! The weather has been so cool and nice lately.  It's raining today off and on and it's nice to be able to open the windows for a change and not run the air conditioner.  I love the weather and it feels like Fall is here already.  School starts tomorrow and Heather will be going to Good Hope High School her sophmore year and Trey will go to Cullman Middle School and he will be in the seventh grade.  Heather starts early morning seminary on Tuesday.  Lauren will probably be going to Wallace State Community College for a while in Hanceville, Alabama.  It is a really nice looking community college, I will have to take some pictures of it sometime. She may decide to go to Brigham Young University Idaho later on. Jeff is currently unemployed but has some army schools to go to later on.  He will be looking for a job. We could use prayers in his behalf and our families. Today is my sister Diane's birthday and yesterday was Jeff's birthday.  I made him a homemade apple cake with cream cheese frosting and it was pretty good. We also went and watched movies this week Jeff and Trey watched the Percy Jackson movie and I wanted to watch Planes.

It's Sunday morning and Trey was not feeling good and I wasn't feeling so good either so we stayed home from church.  Lauren and Heather took Nancy's car to church and Jeff is gone with the National Guard.  I was watching BYU tv when I heard a very loud sound next to the upstairs window.. An Airplane flew very close to the window so I got my video camera and taped some of the airplane.  The airplane was crop-dusting next door.  He did this last year and I loved to watch it and thought he was going to fly into our neighbors house!  I didn't have enough space to put the video on here so I uploaded it to You Tube so you can watch it there if you would like to.

Jeff's job with FEMA ended recently.  He has a couple weeks work with the National Guard and then he will be looking for work again.  He will still be in the National Guard and will be working for them each month and will be able to go to some schools for them as well.  Heather will be going to girls camp this coming Tuesday.  We are short some automobiles right now so Lauren is not working currently, we have one car in the shop, so hopefully it will be fixed soon. I am still working as a dental assistant and will probably work there until I can go back to school or find another better paying job. The summer has been nice here in Alabama with lots of rain so that has been nice and cool.

Well I have been gardening this year and this year in Alabama it rained a lot so it has been good for my garden.  The hard work is paying off now I have lots of tomatoes and yellow squash and should have more vegetables to come.  The rabbits are Lauren's and Jeff built the cage for them.  The day I took this picture it was pretty hot and humid outside.  The hot weather is here in Alabama but I can't complain because it has really been mild and rainy most of the summer.  I love when it rains here! The only bad part is keeping up with the overgrown weeds too!

Well Jeff put up my birthday present today. I asked Jeff to put up a chandelier for my birthday and he kept putting it off so I'm glad he got it done today.  I helped him and it was kind of a pain to put up, he had to redo it a couple times.  I'm glad it's finally up.

We took a mini vacation today and went to Decatur, Alabama and went to the Bird Wildlife Refuge and it was the BEST weather today, perfect for an outing with the kids, Heather decided to stay home because she was too sleepy.  She can enjoy the pictures we took.

 They had a room with binoculars where you could watch the birds closely in the bird feeder.

 Telescopes to see the birds on the water.  We saw a lot of Canadian Geese on the water.

 Cypress Trees in a swamp area.

 A Red Hawk that was injured, so the Wildlife Refuge is taking care of him. 

I loved the nature trails and the sounds of the birds chirping loudly and the smell of honeysuckle.

Trey's sixth grade graduation from West Elementary School.

Pictures from Lauren's graduation and my birthday celebration!  Thanks to my brother Dion for the Cracker Barrel gift card!

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Another busy day at the dental office.  Tomorrow is my day off so I can get some housecleaning done.  The laundry is stacked pretty high.  It's hard to get my kids to help me during the day! School is out for Lauren and Heather and Trey will be out of school next Friday.  The weather is getting cloudy outside.  Tornadoes hit Texas recently so the storms are probably on their way to Alabama. Lauren graduates from High School this Saturday at 2:00 p.m. I want to take some senior pictures soon and then I will post them.  She has some cards but they will be mailed late.

I had the most amazing lunch today.  I usually go to the park to eat my lunch at a picnic table by a big pond across the street from where I work.  The ducks always gather around for food.   It's cute to see the baby ducks with the mom but today was extra special for me because a Blue Herron was staying with me today while I threw bread crumbs into the pond, he was so close to me and waded in the water to spear a couple fish.  He was fishing and caught two fish while I watched him.  I was just sad because I didn't have my camera and video camera with me. I want to keep them with me from now on because something like this could happen again.  Blue Herron's are usually very shy and don't come close to people, but today I was amazed at how close he came to me and stayed for ten minutes or so.  Thankful for God's beautiful creations and to enjoy them.  I love this beautiful bird and I'm thankful to be able to watch one so closely today!!!  A picture of a Blue Herron from internet, looks just like the one I saw in person today! :)

 Family gardening project for Family Home Evening.  Hopefully we will get some good vegetables this year from our garden.

 The rotatiller that has helped us over the years.

The chickens enjoyed the sunshine while we worked in the garden, we have to stay close by because of the cat nearby.

happy mother's day!! mom -trey

Happy Mother's Day!!! I love my mom so much, she is a very good example to me and has helped me through the years.  I'm thankful for her encouragement and love.  I'm also thankful to be a parent of three beautiful children.  At times it becomes very stressful.  My children didn't come with instructions but I'm learning so much! I'm thankful to be a mom.  Lauren is graduating from High School this year, Heather is going to be a Sophmore in High School next year and Trey will be in Middle School and has the priesthood now.  They are growing up so fast, time really goes by quickly sometimes. Actually a friend told me that our kids do come with instructions and they are Family Prayer, Family Scripture Study and Family Home Evening!  "I the Lord am Bound when you do what I say, but when you do not what I say, ye have No Promise!"

Heather's race.

 Chicken's are getting bigger I found some survivors hiding in the garage.

 Homemade chicken coop until Jeff builds a better one soon hopefully!

 Our house not finished yet!

 The back of our house!

 Trees that I planted: A pecan tree that is giving us pecans in the fall, I love it!

 My beautiful Japanese maple tree!

 I planted tons of cedar and pine trees on our land and they are growing big!

 Our dog, Timmy.  He was the runt of all the puppies.

 Our neighbor dog that comes to play with Timmy and likes it at our house.

 Trey at the kitchen table.

 Old Nissan Sentra that I drive to work. I like that it cost us only $750.00 paid for and the gas is cheap.

Tall pine trees.