Memorial Day Weekend

Last weekend we headed to George's parents' house. We hadn't been there since Christmas time so it was definitely time to make a visit. The drive is just long enough it is too much to do in a regular weekend, but three-day weekends work perfectly! We arrived late Friday night and went straight to bed. Saturday we got up and visited some with Dad.

We had made arrangements to meet up with Henry, Jill, and their family, Sophia, Camille, Julie, and Marshall. George met them before there were any kids, and helped Henry on his farm. He worked for them for several years. He had lost touch with them until the wedding. We were so glad they made the long trip to celebrate with us...not to mention reconnect! Since George had last seen them they had two more children and had completed a major renovation on their home. We arrived at the Abel Home just after lunch time. And I was greeted by something I didn't expect to see on a farm in the middle of Illinois...A peacock!!!

I could hardly believe it! A pet peacock! Apparently it wandered from a peacock farm many years ago (when George was still working for them). His name is Bob. He wanders around the yard, sometimes with his feathers down, but when he was playing with the cat...he had to show his beauty.

Shortly after we arrived Henry and Jill gave us a tour of their new addition and renovations of their home. I had nothing to compare it to, but George said it was quite a bit different. It was very beautiful with wonderful decor.

After the tour and some casual chatting we decided to check out their go-carts. We rode for two hours or so. Henry had mowed paths around the sweet corn and in the terraces for riding. The girls took turns riding with us and showed us all the fun things around the farm.

Here I am in one of the go-carts. You can't see her, but Camille was beside me. She was a great help in pointing different things out, and helping me figure out if George was going to pass us.

Here is George and Julie. She only rode for a little bit due to a sensitive stomach, or maybe it was bad driving? :-)

Saturday evening we spent back in Athens. We watched a movie with the York clan and headed to bed. Sunday we were able to go visit Jimmy Zimmerman, George's best-friend's brother. He is battling cancer and I know the family would appreciate the prayers. When we went to the nursing home to visit we were also able to see some friends from Little Flock who had come up to visit as well. It was brief, but wonderful to see everyone.

As we left the nursing home we headed to the Zimmerman home to visit with The Jeff Zimmerman family and see Pop Zimmerman. Below is a picture of Pop Z holding his new granddaughter, Rian. It was the first time we had been able to see her. She was quite precious.

We spend Sunday evening out on the patio around the fire pit visiting and just enjoying the beautiful night. Monday morning George helped Dad with some projects and after lunch we had to head back home. We were welcomed in the Kansas City area with hard rain and storms, but before we got home we were blessed to see a fantastic rainbow (the pictures don't quite do it justice). I don't think I have ever seen a "full" rainbow, from end to end before. All in all it was a wonderful weekend full of friends, family, and fun.

Visitors!!

I love "entertaining". So when we heard Isaac Corn and his girlfriend Krista were headed to Colorado last Thursday, we were so thankful they wanted to stop and see us on the way.Isaac was on his way to begin a summer internship, and Krista was along for the ride, then going to fly back home.

We had never met Krista before, but I especially enjoyed visiting with her. The four of us stayed up late visiting and catching up. We hadn't seen Isaac since the wedding, and most of that day is a blur, so it was nice to just be able to sit and catch up with him as well. We had to get up early to get to work, and they wanted to get an early start on the road--so the visit was short, but wonderful none the less.

We hope anyone who is driving through the Kansas City area feels free to call us at any time if they need a place to stay. Growing up in Missouri, my parent's house was often the stopping place for many travelers before they continued on the journey. Although the visits tend to be brief, it is always nice catching up with friends and family and sometimes even meeting new friends!

Professional Wedding Photography

Many have asked about the professional wedding photography at our wedding. All of her work has been put onto a website to order from. Anyone who would like is able to go on this site and order directly and have the photos sent to you. Please don't feel like you need to order, but if you'd like to look at the pictures, please feel free.

It is easy to do...

Simply click the link, or type, www.pictage.com.
Type in "George York" for the event, and March 2007 for the event date.
You will be asked to set up an account, but that is just so you can order and look freely at our pictures.
We'd love to know what your favorites are!

If there are any problems please let us know.

Congrats Blake and Sadie!

On Friday evening we went to a wedding reception for a good friend of mine, Sadie. Her sister, Kerry, was in our wedding. Kerry and I have been friends for so long, Sadie is like a sister to me as well. They had a small wedding, under a gazebo on Friday evening, followed by reception downtown KC. It was a wonderful time. We were able to see Dan and Kerry, who have recently moved to Florida, visit with other friends, and just have a relaxing evening. Below are a few snapshots from the evening.

The new Mr. and Mrs!

The glowing bride!! She looked beautiful!

Dan and Kerry

I'm not sure who these crazy people are. :-)

"On your mark...get set...GO!"

It has reached the time of the year where we are on the downward stretch...the kids are ready for summer, and the teachers are even more ready for summer. Friday was field day. For those of you who have never experienced a field day it is a rather large event where kids essentially take the day off and get to enjoy a beautiful day outdoors, full of activities and fun.

As a "SPED" teacher (special education) I had the "privilege" of running one of the activities with a few parent volunteers. There were water activities, the javelin throw, soccer toss, tug of war, etc...my station was the 50 yard dash. I tried to capture some pictures of the event, but all of my favorite pictures are pictures of my students and close-ups. I'm not sure what the rules are of sharing pictures of students, so I am going to err on the side of caution and show one that I took from a distance.

Of course...for anyone who knows me very well...knows a day in the sun=sunburn. At noon, when we had our lunch break, I evaluated and thought, "Wow, I'm not even pink, I don't need sunscreen!" The afternoon sun unfortunately was a little brighter and hotter, and left it's mark. None the less...a fun day was had a by all.

Summer fun with the Miller girls!

About a week and a half ago we went to Jefferson City to help Mike and Sarah a little bit with preparations for a garage sale. When we arrived the girls were in their pool have the time of their life. Amazing how much fun a hose and a blow-up pool can be. As you can see, Emma's swimsuit was missing in action, but who needs a swimsuit when you can swim in your clothes?

Dog Sittin' a Horse?

George and I volunteered to house/dog/horse-sit for a co-worker's sister. No...there were no actual horses involved, but rather a very large dog. To be precise it was a Great Dane, but also her little Lhasa Apso friend. We were a little naive in starting the whole process. Little did we know that both dogs are accustomed to sleeping with their owner. There is no bed big enough for me and two dogs to sleep together! Of the seven nights, there was not one with uninterrupted sleep by either barking or an unexpected visitor in bed.

The first night was a little more eventful than I would have liked. I laid down, getting all settled in, and next thing I know Harley, the Great Dane, was laying right on top of me. Granted, George thought it was quite funny, but I think she could have crushed me had she stayed on me much longer. Lesson learned #1, don't take the Great Dane's side of the bed.

After night one we thought Harley had learned her lesson...until at 5 am we had a visitor in bed. Having only an hour left to sleep, I guided Harley back to the couch where she laid down, and I promptly shut the door behind me and crawled into bed. Well, an hour later when it was time to get up and go for work we found little "presents" around the house showing us who was boss. Lesson learned #2, don't shut Harley out of the bedroom.

A few days later, Harley decided she wanted to stay outside, so I decided to bribe her with a treat to come inside. Little did I realize Brutis, the Lhasa Apso, was at my feet and quickly jumped and bit my finger in an effort to get the treat. Lesson learned #3, don't focus too much on the big dog when the little dog is hungry.

George, Harley, and Brutis

In the living room and family room Harley has her own couch. At times she gets excited and has the ability to knock it over.

This is the position she was in most of the time when she was inside. (and yes, this is a full-size, large, puffy couch.)

Although it was nice for a change of scenery briefly...we are very thankful to be back home, in our own bed, with uninterrupted sleep. The most important lesson learned was the overall lesson...We don't want a dog...we like our sleep too much.

Happy Birthday Lil' Sis!!

(May 5th)

Easter weekend

Although I realize Easter was several weeks ago...I wanted to write and share a few pictures from it.

Last minute, George was called in to fill in for my dad at New Liberty for Easter Sunday. So we went to Mike and Sarah's home for some fun with them on the Saturday before. After an indoor-pajama Easter egg hunt (due to the frigid temperatures outside), we put Caitlin and Emma to bed and had lengthy game of Phase 10. I won't say who won...but I walked away very happy. hint hint. None the less, I think a good time was had by all. We had wonderful services the next day, and enjoyed seeing everyone there.

I think her eyes say it all. Just a side, note, the "S" basket she is holding used to be Sarah's Easter basket from many many years ago. We each had one with our initial on it. Mom---Did grandma make these?

Caitlin shows off her loot...despite one arm being in a cast, she did quite well.

Last Weekend

Since George, Ben, and Daniel all celebrated a birthday within the same week earlier this month, they decided to have a celebration weekend. So Daniel came to KC for the weekend. Saturday night we all we went over to Ben and Julie's house and watched a movie. A church member had wanted to share a movie, Facing the Giants, with us for awhile, and we were all finally able to get together and watch it. We had a delicious dinner first, followed by homemade cheesecake. Quite tasty, I must say!

Of course I got to have my fill of Hannah time. She has changed so much even since the wedding. We were sitting at dinner and she was gumming some pineapple in between my fingers. Next thing I know she chomped down, and really made me jump, 'cause it hurt. Little did we know, her first tooth had broke through! She wasn't too willing to show it to us...but we could sure feel it. She is also crawling now, and making a lot more funny expressions. Here are a few updated snapshots.

Smiles don't get much bigger than that.

A little love from Uncle Daniel. They had quite the time playing together while we were there.

She also has become quite fond of a little rocking chair. Julie said she loves to pull it over...she worked and worked to get it pulled over, then play/wrestled with it for quite some time. Many many toys, but a rocking chair entertained her for a good 30 minutes.




We had a wonderful time, and hope to do another movie night soon. Lord willing, I will do another post in the future about the movie.