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My oldest daughter and her new husband came home for an early Christmas the first week of December. I haven't seen her for five months, so you can imagine how excited I was about their visit. While here, we visited family, enjoyed tea parties and built a gingerbread house. Here are a few family pictures from our time together.
My middle daughter is so excited because she doesn't have to ride the bus this year!!! She gets to drive. Of course, that just adds to my worry for the day, but it is nicer for the girls, saving them from an hour ride on a hot, dusty bus.
My youngest daughter celebrating her "11th" Birthday
This past July we attended our county fair, an event we look forward to all year long. This year was no exception, although it was very hot and humid. I have to admit that I'm glad to be back inside with the air-conditioning. Here are a few pictures of our girls' projects. Above is our youngest daughter with her bucket calf. Below are pictures of their food projects and our oldest with horse, Joe.
Pictured on your left is my youngest with a twelve day old bucket calf, her latest 4-H project. He is a Hereford twin who lost his mom. My daughter calls him "Bud" and feeds him milk replacer from a bottle. 
To your right, is a huge toy barn made from homemade Lincoln Logs. Several years ago, my husband was not satisfied with the box of Lincoln Logs I bought for Christmas, so he decided to build his own. That entire winter, he and the girls went out to the barn to work on their project, which now is stored in several large boxes in our home. They pulled them out the other day and this is the barn my husband built. He's saving them for grandchildren!
Sam with her bridesmaids.
The end of June brought floods to Southeast Kansas and to our hometown. Unfortunately, our church was one of the places flooded by the Neosho River, as well as many of our friends' homes. If you would, please keep them in your prayers as they work to come out of this disaster. 
Eight years ago, I formed and managed a group of youth singers who called themselves "Saving Grace." We were together for five years. During that time, we learned a host of contemporary praise songs along with a few gospel hymns, and we traveled around southeast Kansas singing and glorifying God with our music. Some of the places we attended were various churches, community events, and even the Kansas State Fair where we performed three different times. In those years, we managed to purchase our own singing equipment and our last year together we recorded a music CD of our favorite songs. We also ate a lot of pizza and had some fun roadtrips. 
This past February, our family celebrated a couple birthdays. One daughter turned 17, and my dear husband finally caught up to me at . . . 42. So, how many of you are older than your husbands? I like to tell mine that I'm older and wiser. . . . but I don't think he believes it.
Ruby, our Golden Retriever, blessed us with puppies twice a year. Here are a few pictures of the darlings. They grow fast.
With the daily rains, the waterfalls were beautiful. One day, we 4-wheeled to the top of Mount Imogene at over 13,000 feet. Here are a couple of the pictures we took.
Every October, my husband goes on an annual elk hunt to the West Elk Wilderness near Gunnison, CO. They take their horses and pack into the mountains for two weeks of extreme, primitive, manly fun. (Think fourteen days without a shower.) 
Each year, he brings back stories about their adventures--black bears, blizzards, riding trails in the pitch of night. 
Me, I'd rather stay home where I can sleep in my soft bed. I don't mind camping in the summer, but add snow, bears, and no bathroom to the equation and you can call me a sissy.
Playing in the snow in January. Pictured here are my three daughters and husband building a gigantic snowman.
This snowstorm brought snow that measured between 16-18 inches. Amazing. I haven't s
een white stuff like this since I was a young girl. To my childrens' delight, school was cancelled--It didn't take long before the girls had the horses ready for sledding.
I dreamed about was to write a book. Lots of time has passed since then, but five years ago, I joined a group called American Christian Romance Writers, now called American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW). Since that time, I've learned a lot about writing fiction and have completed two books I'm prepared to claim (the ones before that were learning tools). My current work is a contemporary series situated in the Flint Hills of Kansas, which will be published by Zondervan. The first book, Snow Melts in Spring is set to release May 09. Below are some writing tips for beginning writers that I hope will help you on your writing journey.
Well friends, I'm pleased to announce that I've reached senior graduation and have been offered a contract by Zondervan. It's been a long journey, but well worth the wait!
Sweepstakes. Not that I would know how either of those feel like, but it finally arrived . . . my contract with Zondervan!
here I can shut out "life" when needed.
Let me tell you, I am completely sold on this idea to help put you into your story. I simply pop the CD in and suddenly I'm transported to another time and place. At times, my heart and mind soars with the orchestration.
