45*.

When we left Las Vegas this afternoon, it was

80*. Arriving in Reno seven hours later, it

was snowing and 35*. Holy Cow!! My crew

and I were still dressed in our shorts, t-shirts,

and flip flops. It is crazy how fast we became

accustomed to the "hot" weather. I am sure

that we will be in shock in May when we

experience the summer weather. Last year

it snowed until the 4th of July in Reno. Luke

usually has a pool party for his birthday

and we thought that we would be building

snowmen to celebrate his birthday last year.

I am sure that we will be sipping lemonade in

the sunshine this year!!

We are really getting excited for our move and

enjoyed our road trip home. I certainly am

glad that I have such wonderful traveling

buddies. We always have so much fun

laughing and telling jokes. I am glad that my

peeps are so close and that we have such

great times together. I love that they still

do not minding hanging around Moms and

Dads!! I am grateful for my many blessings

including wonderful family, friends, and

supporters!! It will be great when we are

all together . . . very, very soon!!

Our Brand New Digs.

Yeehaw!! We are so excited about our

new home!!! My crew loves it and I am

so EXCITED!!!! God really pulled a miracle

together when He found this house!!!

The neighborhood is beautiful. The

neighbors are so nice. It is really going

to be great!!! We can hardly wait for

the BIG move . . . 41 days.

The backyard is absolutely gorgeous!!!

We spent much of today out in our

brand new back yard excited about

all of the fun and wonderful things that

will take place there.

Today was very productive as we

spent many hours meeting with

contractors who will be helping

with the renovations!! . . . everything

will be beginning soon!

Back Home . . . Almost!!!

Ooohlala! It was 80* today in fab-u-lous Las Vegas!

Several members of my crew and I arrived here

today to check out our incredible new home. We

are so, so thankful and love it so, so much!

We had a great trip down . . . laughing and

joking most of the way. We always have fun

stopping at the Subway in Tonopah and

celebrating the fact that we are half way to our

destination. The Orleans Hotel is so much

fun!! The boys are going to spend the weekend

staking out their new rooms and checking

out our brand new beautiful neighborhood.

God is so good! We cannot wait to see what

He does next!!!

42 days and counting until the BIG move!!

McQueen Tourney #2.

In the blustery, wintery weather, Sam had his second

tournament today! Burrrr! I felt bad for him all

during the night just thinking of him playing golf

in the rain and wind. Luckily, we bought wool pants

during the off season just for golf days like this.

We love going out to the tournaments so that we can

watch the boys come in. I felt bad for some of them

who played in foursomes for 7 hours. Today

totally tested the boys' patience and skill. McQueen

has a young team, but they fight, fight, fight to win.

It is supposed to be 70* on Friday, but 49* for the

next golf tournament!

On the Range.

Mike and Luke hit the Somersett range today . . .

although it was NOT the best weather, they were

dying to get out there and smack some balls!!

The high school guys were practicing at the same

time that we were out there and Luke was

hitting the ball FURTHER than then the guys

on the high school golf team!!!

. . . heck he was hitting them further than his Dad!!

Our Luke has an AWESOME swing.

Yep!!! Our Dad hit the range today

in full force . . .

Way to go Dad, we sure are proud

of you!!!

Update on Our Dad.

Okay, so Mike starts his day with this smoothie:

cottage cheese and flax oil. Yum! All

throughout the day, there are a host of other

herbal and homeopathic rituals that we

follow. Mike feels great and is confident in

the regimen that he has chosen.

The boys and I are eager to support him

and help him in any way that we can.

Mike has given up all refined sugars, does

not eat any meat or animal products, and

watches the intake of fruits also.

Considering that the treatment options and

protocol that we were presented with, we

are excited to embrace these natural methods

and realize that it is ultimately God's

decision on whether or not to heal our Dad.

At the moment, we are excited about our

move to Las Vegas and CANNOT wait to

be with our loved ones. We have such a

wonderful support system and are so very

grateful that God has orchestrated a way for

us to be with them all very, very shortly.

So, here's to an early morning cottage

cheese and flax oil smoothly!!

Sunday Blessings.

Counting my blessings . . .

*A sweet get well card from

dear friends

*Fun family time

*Great church service

*Singing praises to the Lord

*Holding hands with my

main squeeze

*Fun Sunday dinner

*Laughter

*Hugs

*Setting new goals for

a brand new week

*Working on a new quilt

*Reading for my dissertation

research

*Watching movies with my

favorite peeps

*Cozy pajamas by 4:00p.m.

Gram's Recipe Box.

Getting ready for our move, we have

found some real treasurers. At the very

tippy top of the list is Gram's recipe box.

When we moved into this rental home,

I did not unpack all of my recipe books

and this special box. I had them tucked

away to be unpacked when we moved

into our new home. As we were repacking

boxes, I could not help but open this box

to take a peek at Gram's recipe box. Gram

gave me this recipe box about five years

ago. Growing up I looked at the recipes

in this box many, many times. I can still

picture Gram pouring over the recipes,

deciding which she would make for her

family for special occasions.

Most of the recipes in the box are written

by hand, either by Gram or the cook from

which she obtained the recipe. Another

awesome thing that Gram did, was to date

each recipe in the corner as well as indicate

who she obtained the recipe from. This

recipe dates all the way back to 1940.

There are many recipes that were written

before I was born in 1963.

The first recipe in the box is the ever-famous

"Zucchini Bread". When the boys and

I were looking at the box today, they stated

how much they miss Gram's cooking,

especially the chocolate chip cookies and

the zucchini bread.

One of the recipes for "Mom's Apple Cake"

was written by Pat, Mike's Mom. I remember

this cake also . . . totally yummy!!!

All of the recipes in the box brought back

many special memories, just like the one

for "Popcorn Balls". How could we ever

think of celebrating Halloween without

Gram's yummy popcorn balls made with

tons of butter, brown sugar, and honey.

I am certain that my family and I will spend

MANY more hours looking at these

famous recipes and enjoy the memories

associated with each.and.every.one!

We took a trip to . . . the ER!!

About 12:45 this afternoon, Luke had

an episode where his heart was beating

175 beats per minute, according to

Tim's metronome. We took his pulse

and it was also racing . . . So, it was off

to the ER!!!

When we arrived, Luke was much better.

The docs and nurses were determining

just what could have caused such an event

to happen to my young 12 year old boy.

Luke was looking so much better,

his heart calmed down, and we thought

that we were out of the woods. The

nurse requested a urine specimen

from him and asked me to accompany

him to the bathroom. Of course, I faced

the wall the other way . . . I thought that

Luke was teasing me when he told me

that we was dizzy. The moment that I

turned around, he was already heading

backwards and cut his head open on the

toilet. Needless to say, there were

medical personnel EVERYWHERE within

seconds. They were monitoring him

with heart monitors, EKGs, blood pressure,

and pulse machines. IVs were put in and

within a few minutes, he was looking

back to his "old self". Whew!!

Praise the Lord, all of the tests turned

out great!!! The docs knew what was

happening at home and thought that

perhaps our Luke was stressed. Needless

to say, when we finally got him home, we

all cozied on the couch, watched a

flick, and were grateful to have him

back home where he belongs.

We are praying, praying, praying that as

we experience hills and valleys that the

Lord will have His hand upon us and

guide and direct us as to the paths that

we should take. Every day is an adventure

and presents unknown territory. Luke is

only 12, although he looks and acts so

much older. I pray that the Lord will

give all of us the strength and courage

we need in order to cope with all that

we have in front of us at the moment.

Boxes, boxes, boxes.

All of our boxes are packed,

and we are READY to GO!!!

We have been working so hard

getting ready for the big move

back to Las Vegas. I can officially

say that the entire crew is excited

and cannot wait to unpack those

flip flops!

I am super proud of all of us as

we have "lightened our load"

tremendously by determining what

"stuff" we really NEED when we

get to our new home. It seems as

though most of us have been

carrying around way too much extra

STUFF.

My little Easter bunny is tucked

neatly in the corner awaiting her

special box. I am not going to even

put her out this year . . . She will

make her debut next Easter when

we return home. A large majority of

my extra baggage is kindergarten teaching

materials. It tugs at my heartstrings when

I look at it. Mike and the boys cannot

believe how many kindergarten

teaching materials I have. One of my

most favorite kindergarten things is my

barn that Mike made for the kids in

my classroom. NOONE has a barn like

this and it is such a hit with students,

moms and dads, little brothers and sisters,

other teachers, and even principals!!

Yep, we are waiting for the new

house to close within the next

couple of weeks. Then the small

renovations will take place and then,

as soon as the big guys are done

with school and the golf team on May 16,

we will be hitting the road for LV. We

are so blessed that Mike's BFF Jerry will

be bringing a huge truck to move our

belongings . . . How great is that?!?

49 is Fine!

Celebrating the big 4-9 with my amazing

crew was an awesome day beginning

with a TWO HOUR hot stone massage.

Holy Cow, did I need that . . . it was totally

w-o-n-d-e-r-f-u-l. After I arrived

home from my massage, I was greeted

by these gorgeous flowers from

Grandy and Bobby! They are so

beautiful!! I love them!!!

Next my guys and Grampa took me to

Firken and Wolf. We have been wanting

to go to this restaurant ever since we

have lived in Reno. It was really fun!

We had TONS of food . . . chicken wings,

salads, burgers, fries, and a chicken pot pie.

After heading to my birthday dinner,

we went to a Fathom Event at the

movie theatre. Casablanca was showing

for one night only, it was the 70th

anniversary of the movie. I must say,

EVERYONE loved the movie and talked

about it the entire night and kept

repeating the classic lines from the movie.

Mike and the guys made my birthday

cake . . . Yummy, yummy lemon cake

with raspberry and pudding filling.

Needless to say, I only had one wish on

my mind. The kids said that I blew so hard

that I almost blew all of the frosting off

of the cake!!

. . a gift card to the movie

theater . . . You betcha!

Mike and the boys ALWAYS pick

out the VERY BEST gifts . . . Do

these scuffs look like me or

what?!?

I love, love, love, them!!!

The traditional birthday card

from Grampa! Just what could

possibly be in that envelope?!?

Yep, today was a totally amazing

birthday celebration!!! I am so grateful

for this family time and WOULD NOT

TRADE IT FOR ANYTHING IN THE WORLD!!!

Thank you to my incredible family for

the most amazing.day.ever!!!

Our Number One.

Sam had his first golf tournament of

the season today at Red Hawk Golf

Course. The weather started off great

and true to Reno weather, changed to

windy, cloudy, and pretty cold by the

time that the match was over.

Sam played the number one position

today in a shotgun match lasting

five hours. His team, as many of the

others in the same division, are

experiencing a season of growth

this year with five freshman on the

team.

We always have fun watching the boys

arrive on the 18th hole and complete

their rounds. Mike and I really enjoy

being able to go the matches and

support the team.

Adding up the score is a reality of the

game. We are excited for the next

seven weeks. It would be great if the

team could repeat last season by

winning regionals as underdogs and

going on to state. (We are excited that

state will be held in fabulous Las

Vegas near the end of May this year!)

Go Lancers!